Into the Black, Forever Free
by Akoro88
Summary: Mal and the crew make an interesting find while on an illegal salvage. A squad of ODST's gets stuck in a slip stream portal from the Ark while on a mission looking for the Chief. When they drop from slip space, whats waiting will test them to the limit.
1. Illegal Salvage

Ok, I came up with this idea watching a preview for ODST, right before a Firefly marathon. Gave me some ideas. Beyond the movie, tv series, one graphic novel (those left behind), and whats contained in the main manual for the Serenity role playing game, I may be a a little out of date, and be missing some information. For Halo, I have only the knowledge from the games, and books 1 through 4. ( i have not made it through Contact Harvest or Cole Protocal.) I do the best I can, with what I have to work with. I'm not claiming to be any good, by any stretch of the imagination. But I think the story in my mind is interesting and entertaining, and I would like to share it with everyone.

This is obviously AU. Wash is not dead, b/c I refuse to acknowldge it. lol. I own nothing in this story, cept the personalitys of my OC's.

Most of my OC's are based on someone I know in real life. If you guys are interested, I'll tell you later on who is who. I hope for reviews, but more so I hope you guys enjoy it.

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"WASH?!? You wanna explain to me why my ship is doing all kinds of shaking and various other worrisome things?" Mal shouted stumbling into the cockpit.

"Debris Mal, _debris_. We're practically floating through a junk yard here, so something is bound to hit us"

" You best make sure nothing hits hard enough to punch a hole through the hull, or we're all gonna be a peck humped"

"Well that wouldn't be too great. I've never felt the need to swim in the black." Wash joked, leaning over the ships controls. Mal leveled his eyes at the pilot, his nerves not in the kind of mood for Wash's particular brand of sarcastic humor. Wash however, paid him no mind , and moved one of his plastic dinosaurs out of the way to flip a switch, while humming a tune.

"Now have just a might respect here. Lotta people met their makers above this godforsaken moon. Gotta be mindful of that. _That_, and makin sure we don't join'em."

"I for one am fond of the living." Something beeped on the controls, "And we're coming up on the coordinates. Zoe and Jane might wanna start suiting up Captain, we'll be there in a few minutes."

Mal turned and left the room, heading down towards the cargo bay. Karyn's information had turned out more than a mite promising so far, and just a bit above truthful. Outside looked an awful lot like what was left of the Battle of Sturges. The remains of the ships floated above the moon that hadn't been important enough to receive a name, just a serial code. The moon had been, however, the site of one of the bigger hidden bases of the Independents during the war. The Alliance had sniffed it out, and a big, rather nasty battle had occurred in orbit. The base was destroyed, and a lot of POW's taken. Unlike the Battle of Sturges however, the talk was that the Alliance, in all their 'glory' had been kind enough to retrieve all the bodies and give them burial, seeing how the Independent commander had been sweet enough to surrender after a few day's assault. _But_, in more hushed tones, someone had told them about a big bounty of medical supplies, weapons, fuel etc that had been left behind afterwards.

Why had no one picked the bones clean already? Reavers tended to haunt the area. But after last years 'encounter' with their lovely creations, the Alliance had taken to hunting the more active reaver ships down, and blowin them half to hell. Which ment less Reavers in the verse to worry about, and whole new opportunities for jobs.

Mal came down the catwalk stairs into the cargo bay, and found Zoe and Jayne almost ready to go. This job could take the better part of a few days, depending on what they found.

"C'mon Mal, the hell you waitin for? Aint a two man job we're pulling. Aint even a three man job."

"Jane, you're so eager to work, and there's not even any killing involved. I'm touched. Truly" Zoe remarked sarcastically.

"Well, this is seeming to be an easy job, even with that bit of length on it. Alliance doesn't come near here, and neither do the settlers planet as we know, we're the first to get pickings at such a large booty. " Mal sniffed, beginning to seal up his space suit.

Jayne fidgeted with his gloves, grinning like he'd just fooled the devil himself.

"How many Alliance wrecks you think are floatin around out there? Independent?"

Mal never looked up, but answered, " Couple dozen Alliance at least. Don't much care how many of the other though. We wont be touchin a finger to them."

"Well why not Mal?"

Zoe answered. " Cause we ain't gonna. And neither are you. Alliance only. Pick'em clean. Right Sir?"

"Right you are. Hurry it up, I wanna get this going like it was yesterday."

Wash guided the ship to nearest wreck, that looked the most intact. Serenity docked, and there was a _hiss_ as the doors slid open. Zoe ran the scanner at the control panel.

"No atmo, no grav, but the pressure is intact. Looks like it's just missin the life support, this part of it anyway."

Wash guided them through the blue prints, towards the med bay, and dining hall. They popped the door to the kitchens. Floating like odd little morbid balloons, all manner of fruit, meat and once liquid substances were frozen and moving about the area freely. Their lights reflected off the surfaces of pots and pans. Mal ordered Jayne to look in the pantry for the dried foods, and sent Zoe off to the Med bay. The corridors of the ship were dark and only added to the somber mood. Though there were no bodies, the ship remains carried the feeling of wrongness and sorrow for all the lives lost. Mal really couldn't have cared less. One, or two, or several hundred Alliance soldiers dead couldn't make him blink a single tear. He radioed Wash.

"Wash, see if you can't get Kaylee to do something with this grav issue. It'd make moving about our giant treasure chest a mite easier."

"I take it the job was a win captain?"

"Looks like, but I wouldn't be getting all excited and holdin me to it though. Work's just begin'n."

Work was indeed, just beginning. Eventually a highly cheerful Kaylee, and a red faced Simon emerged from the engine room. Kaylee got the gravity on the wreck working, and made it look easy in the process. When Zoe called out that the med bay was fully stocked, and only a portion of the supplies was moderately damaged, Simon quickly sat at the comm, and told her what to grab. He told her what was good for the ships own stock, selling on the black market, and various items Karyn would accept for payment, finders fee, or anything else they might owe her. The amount of items on that particular list, that were sitting in the med room, waiting to be grabbed was very long. Jayne was busy hauling in crates of packaged dried food, protein supplements and vitamins. Most of the food was edible, at least, even if it wasn't the most appetizing.

The load of food was enough to stock Serenity's kitchen full, and last them for several months. The drugs and supplies not only filled Simons lab, but filled most of the hidden cargo spaces nicely. Anything not given to Karyn, could be sold, and bring in good coin. This was only the fist ship….

Wash rested comfortably with his feet up, and dozing. All was quiet, and he was happy to sit while the others hauled in the goods. Zoe, Jayn and Mal brought them in, and the others shifted them around the bay, while he sat to 'man' the bridge. Nap in it was more like it. It was so peaceful in the floating junkyard…… except an annoying bit of static. He ignored it at first…… and then again the second time, brushing it off as a figment of his imagination……until the third time when it was louder and stronger.

"Gahh!!! _Go Hwong Tong_!" He almost slipped out his chair, and straightened his back to look over at the controls. "What is that?" It sounded like static, through and through, until he listened closer.

"…_..rtana……..117 aboard……cryo…..meadiate evac………_"

"_Shuh Muh?"_ he said, trailing off. He listened again, and after a few times, realized it was repeating it's self three times before stopping. Wash pressed the comm button and buzzed the Captain.

"Mal?" He waited a few minutes.

"Go ahead Wash"

"You might want to come to the bridge"

"Why's that? Got work need to be done."

"I'm picking up some kind of a wave. Sounds like a distress signal, and I think it's on a loop. Real garbled, but I'm starting to make it out." There was a pause. The captain didn't answer him.

"Mal?"

"On my way. Pin it down and clear it up."

Mal looked around at Zoe and Jayne as they finished loading on the last bit of their find. It was time to drop off the payment to Karyn, and decide what they were keeping.

"Get the rest of the precious on board. I want this place behind us inside of ten." He walked back into the hold of his ship, and stripped off the space suit. This place had more than lived up to it's promises. It would keep them in the air for a good while, and they could continue to come back and pick. He ran his hand through his hair going up the catwalk, and past the door to Inara's shuttle. He didn't want his thoughts to wonder there right now. As if to compound it all, he found River standing outside the bridge.

"It's not a demon in there."

Mal stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Armored angel, tortured for the good of all, sleeping away the ice."

"You know, I reckon I'll never get used to the oddities leakin out of that brain pan of yours." He held back a grin. River returned the smile he didn't show, only her's had a hint of mischief in it.

"If you did, it wouldn't be my brainpan I'd be worried about captain."

"Hmm, you may just have a point there albatross. Think you could go get Kaylee into the engine room?"

River made a mock salute and skipped off with a light hearted giggle. Still a bit strange, but better since Miranda. Things looked awful bright for the Doc's sister. Mal entered the bridge to find Wash concentrating hard on the panels in front of him.

"Wash, what have ya got?" The pilot sat back.

"Well, it's definitely some kind of distress signal. It's set to repeat three times on a loop every thirty minutes."

"What's it say?" Asked Mal. Wash fiddled with the controls.

"It's repeating again…….. Here, got the signal cleaned up some what…"

" _This is ….OS…..NSC Forward……awn. This is Cortana. Aboard is Master Ch……117, curr…..cryo…. Requesting immediate evac and rescue._"

"You said it's on a loop?"

"Yeah, and who knows for how long."

Mal sat down on the edge of the controls and crossed his arms, listening to the loop. For the next few minutes, he gathered that somewhere on some kind of ship the were survivors of something. At least one was a woman, named Cortana, and they needed help like it was yesterday. After a few moments, Zoe walked in, slightly sweaty, and wearin a lopsided grin.

"You missed it captain. Jayne didn't walk as gracefully as he's accustomed, and introduced his face to the floor of the cargo bay."

"I'm sorry I missed it. But we got something might be a bit of interest."

"Oh?", Zoe asked curiously," Thought the only things of interest were what's fillin our hold?"

"Take a listen" Mal pointed to the screens. Wash pressed a button and played back the message. Zoe's expression went serious as the garbled message ran through.

"They need help, who ever they are."

"Yep, or, they needed help."

"Sir?"

"It's playin on a loop, constant like. No way telling how long its been like that."

"Sir, there could be people out there needing help."

"Could also be an old message back from this here battle."

"Well, the signal source is coming from the other side of this debris field. It's not even really out of the way if we check it out." Wash interjected.

"What, are you siding with her? I know that's yer wife an all Wash-"

"She'll beat me mercilessly if I don't agree."

"I'll beat you something shiny in a minute."

Wash threw his hands up. "_Feh Feh Pi Goh, _my pretty face will never survive the relentless onslaught!" Zoe smiled and bent down to kiss him. " Sweetheart, who said anything about hurting this face?"

"I know I should terrified, but I'm hoping the manner of death involves whoopi." They both smiled, and Mal groaned in fake disgust.

"When the two of you are aptly finished makin me sick, I concede to the gang-up. Run the ship by there, see if we cant dig something up."

"Yes my Captain, like we didn't know you were gonna say yes anyway!" Wash called after Mal, as he walked out the door.

"Watch it Wash" Mal uttered, and he could hear the two laughing after him. He suppressed a grin thinking about how close they had come to losing Wash after Miranda. Then the loss of Book…..Mal never wanted to lose crew, or come close to losing his crew like that again. Breaking out of that train of thought, he noticed Jayne coming down the hall.

"Every things strapped down captain, ready to go." He continued to walk past, but Mal turned and stopped him.

"Don't get to over eager. Wash found something in the debris field we're gonna check out."

"Is it gold?"

"Not decidedly…"

"Then who gives a gorram?"

"I do. I want you waitin in that bay and don't give me a ruttin hard time about."

"Don't have to bite my head off."

"Call it preemptive."

Wash guided the ship through the floating scrap as carefully as he could. He frequently had to send out bursts of oxygen to move large, particularly nasty looking pieces. After about an hour, they had safely navigated to the signals point of origin, which was buried pretty deeply in all the floating slag. Mal stood behind his pilot with his arms crossed, watching everything. He wasn't going to sit patiently at this for too much longer. Stickin around with illegal salvage wasn't the greatest idea. Infact, it was down right inviting trouble. For once they had a chance to have a job go exactly as planned, and here was Mal, right up front on the bridge watchin them deviate from the original course.

"Wash, how much further?"

"It should be right in front of us captain…… I think it's that one." Wash pointed at one of the larger ships. Mal walked to the window, and tried to get a better look. The ship, didn't look like any kind of cruiser he'd ever seen. It seemed like it should have been bigger, but was missing a large section….

They moved in closer, and Zoe pointed out writing on the side of the ship. It looked like a lot of numbers, possibly serial code, but not in any format they had ever seen, Alliance or other wise. Then there were words _Forward unto Dawn _emblazoned on the side of the ship.

"Wash, check the records for the Battle of Abisha system. Check for any ship matching this description…."

"I'm already on it."

"Sir, what is this?" Zoe asked. Mal didn't look at her, and thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't know. But I'm itchin to find out."

"Looks like it's not whole. There's a design here… and it's not complete…" She trailed off.

There were a few more silent moments before Wash broke it. "Captain, there is no listing of any ship fitting this description or call name, Alliance, Independent or otherwise, _ever_."

"Ever?"

"Ever. Not in this battle, not in the war, not before, after or presently."

"Well get back on the cortex and scan again."

"I did, twice. Who ever this ship, or what's left of it, belongs too, it's not from anything in the known Alliance, Core, Border, or Rim worlds."

"And what in the _Ai Yah Tien Ah _is it doing here?

Zoe clapped her hands on Wash's shoulders. "Dunno, but I wouldn't mind finding out myself." Wash moved Serenity around a corner of the ship, and they all sucked in a breathe rather quickly. There was even a verbalization.

"_Lio Coh Jwei Ji Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh, Buhn Jah J'wohn!"_

"Darling, language." Zoe almost whispered.

"Now Zoe, I do believe if there was ever a time in the verse for such fringing language, this is it." Mal commented. There wasn't just sections of the ship missing, an entire end seemed to be gone, sliced clean off by the looks of it…

They could see what would have been corridors, and the various decks, completely bisected by only god knows what….

"What in the verse could muster this kinda tech? Not even the Alliance can cut a ship in half, let alone this clean!" Wash sputtered.

"Keep your panties clean Wash, I'm going to need you to fly her in as close as possible. Try and find a place to dock."

"Or to clamp on to?"

"What ever works without killing us. Zoe? Get on down to the cargo bay with Jayne. Suits on, and anchor lines ready." Mal turned from the bridge, back to the cargo bay. On the cat walk, he watched Zoe and Jayne prepping, the Doctor writing down the stock of drugs and medical supplies, and River pawing through the food stuffs. This was his home, and this was his life, and nothing in the verse could make him want it any other way.

"Mal, what's going on?" A soft, sweet, cultured voice asked from his side.

"Business, as usual Inara." He turned to face her. She was beautiful, as always. She had her hair down, and it looked like a flowing ebony waterfall. Her dress was the tight purple one she was fond off. Why did she have to be so damn attractive?

"Well this is the second time I've seen them putting the suits on. Is this operation so top secret you're unable to share a snippet of the information?" She jested. Inara's humor and jabs were the sly kind. Mal crossed his arms.

"We picked up a distress signal, going to check it out. See if there ain't nothing we can do for whomever so left it." He began walking down to the bay, and didn't catch her say "Be careful".

He descended the stairs, and yelled out to Simon, "Doctor, there's a chance we might be bringing in some wounded, or something of the like."

"I'll be ready." Simon had a high smooth voice. It made him standout, especially among most rim world and border folk. Mal worked himself into the suit one more time, River helping him rig it up. They secured the anchor lines to plating that seemed stable in the remains of the ship, and Mal grabbed a beacon locater, and a set of cutting tools, just incase. Everything was sealed up, and Wash opened the air lock, letting them out.

The decent into the ruins was quiet, cept for Jayne muttering his complaints about it all. They ran something along the lines of the place not 'feeling right' and some other nonsense he tended to spew when he was nervous. They followed the anchor lines down to one of the corridor openings. When the beacon locater beeped, they stopped at that particular level. Meanwhile, above them, Wash could feel the sweat beading up on his forehead. Carefully, and slowly he moved Serenity closer to the wreck, watching the cameras in the side of the ship. After one of the longest five minutes he could remember, they were in range for the magnetic clamps. When he engaged them, the ship shuddered and groaned, but held firm. Only then, after the fact, did he release the breath he'd been holding.

The trio engaged the grav lock on their boots and started to explore. Based off the lay out he was seeing, Mal felt sure this was a military cruiser of some sort. They passed by several signs, directional and otherwise, all written in English. There was a symbol of an eagle with a globe in several areas, with the letters 'UNSC' on it. They kept following the signal, and were turning down a corner when Malcolm noticed something.

"Look, each step we take is seemin to bring us closer to this 'Cryo Bay'. Watch." The locater indicated they take a left at a fork, and the words 'To Cryo Bay's Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie' were written in an white arrow pointing down the same hallway.

"Well lets see what or who's in there." Jayne mumbled.

It wasn't long before they reached three large, gray steel double doors. Mal glanced at the scanner for a moment, before he pointed to the middle one. Zoe moved over to the control panel, and tried a few buttons. Nothing happened. She tried again, and got the same result. Wondering what was next, she looked over at the captain.

Then, a sudden beeping caught their attention. Looking back at the panel, there were lights showing up on it, and a green one that began to blink. With a pneumatic hiss, the doors slid open.

"Well now, ain't this interesting?"

"Interesting? It's a gorram ghost ship. We should turn around and leave, and be happy with the haul we got!"

"Jayne, remember how nice it was when you weren't talking?" Mal remarked.

"Much as I agree with you Sir, some thing aint right with all this." Zoe said.

"All the same, see'in as we're here, lets find that signal source."

The room they were in was large, and long, and went far back. It was dark except for the light from their suits. It was the same plain steel gray, and had long tubes with glass exposures on top lining the walls. Various numbers for serial codes decorated the walls, and several raised panels held words laid out like instructions. Though he could understand the words, them being in English and all, the Captain couldn't grasp their meaning. Who ever wrote them was talking about sitting in one of those tubes, having some kind of fluid flushed into your lungs, then getting frozen. Put simply, a whole recipe for unpleasantness that he wanted no part of. After a few minutes, Mal was thinking about leaving, until Jaynes voice cut into his thoughts.

"Captain, I think I found something….. Or someone."

Mal moved towards where Jayne was standing, next to one of the tubes. "What in tarnation is this supposed to be?"

Mal walked up on the other side of the tube, and leaned closer. Inside, laying as if sleeping, was an armored figure. Actually, armored didn't really describe it appropriately. Who ever this was, was covered from head to toe in green colored plates and a helmet, with a gold visor.

Mal uttered the only thing that seemed to describe the moment correctly.

"Huh."

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A/N : So thats the first chapter. I honestly hope you liked it. Again, I don't claim to be any good, but I thought the idea was interesting. I'm not good at putting story's to paper or text, but this is a good relief from College, and the stress of my husbands deployment. Reviews of all kind are more than welcome. You'll get to meet my OC's next chapter. Thanks in advance!


	2. Search and Rescue

I was really surprised at how many hits I got in the first few hours of publishing the first chapter, and I gotta say, that makes me smile. I'mma admit, I had the second one already written out, so I'll post it for you all now. Either tommorrow or sometime tonight I'll start work on the third.

No Chief or Cortana yet, but be patient, they'll be here. I really wanted to get my OC's in soon.

Once again, I own nothing, but the personalitys of my OC's.

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_(2558 UNSC Search and Rescue vessel 107-50 Soto Cano_, Last known trajectory of the _Forward unto Dawn._)

Corporal Cuirteis Leth felt himself stirring out of a peaceful sleep. He'd been dreaming something rather good, and wasn't to happy to be woken out of it. He moved his hand to pull the blanket closer to block out the ridiculous cold around him. How ever, he felt it hit what felt like glass instead. Then came the memory of where he was. Not at home in Dublin working on his car, not at the New Kildare colony, picking out land to settle on, but stuffed frozen in a cryo tube somewhere out in the middle of space.

He forced his eyes open when the familiar _hiss_ let him know the top was opening, and felt them tear up and sting from the residue cryo gases. Boy did it sting too. But, he only had a few moments to think about it, before he felt his gag reflex try and push up the protective gel coating his lungs. He fell out of the tube gagging and heaving. Oozing from his throat was a blue tinted gel mixed with his bronchial mucus. The sight alone was enough to make one lose their lunch.

Around him was a chorus of hurling as the others woke up from cryo sleep. Several tubes down, Sgt. Liam Manning wiped his mouth and tried not to dwell on the awful taste in his mouth, or the slimy mess he was gagging into a drain. Once again, he, and many others were reminded why they disliked space travel. Cryo wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Your lungs were filled with a fluid to keep them from being damaged in the freezing process, then you laid in a tube to be frozen by a laundry list of chemicals. Unfreezing meant you were defrosted, and had to hack up the fluid, and the swallow gel filled with replacement vitamins and nutrients you lost during the sleep. The entire process was disgusting and repulsive.

Manning stood up, happy to have it all over with. Around him, the men were beginning to recover. Down the row, he spotted, and began taking a mental account of his men when Staff Sergeant Hollings walked in, and called the room to attention. The snap was almost audible, and the men stood perfectly still, all ears waiting to receive instruction.

"Alright ODST's, we have arrived at the last known location and trajectory of the _Forward unto Dawn. _I think everyone knows why we're here. The _Soto Cano_'s crew and scanners are working around the clock since arriving in-system. If there is any trace of the Master Chief and Cortana here, we _will_ find them. You men are to sit on standby in teams. You'll each be assigned to a Falcon, which will be deployed in the event we find something. We're here to find the Chief people. There's not a cold chance in hell we're gonna leave him out here. Took the better part of four years to find the system he got left in, and I'll be damned if we fail him now. The soldier deserves to come home finally, it's the least he deserves."

Hollings words hung heavy in the air. Everyone's minds were on the Chief, and the war. They wouldn't have won without him. The mere thought of the Master Chief and the Spartans, and their actions had raised moral. Thousands enlisted to fight the covenant, and fight along side the Spartans, hero's of the UNSC. Cpl. Nikolai Ross, was one of these people. Ross was 5'7, with white freckled skin, and ridiculously bright blue eyes. They fit his personality. He stood there, listening to Hollings speak, and recalled the day he shipped from the Wilderness colony on the edge of UNSC space. The reports had come in that a neighboring planet had been glassed, and any ship trying to escape had been attacked by the Covenant. The defending military force had barely made it out to bring the news. When the reports of the armored warriors called Spartans had reached him, he was completely enthralled. Who couldn't admire such hero's? So with high hopes of glory, and a need to avenge the people lost in the near by glassing, Nikolai signed up and shipped out as soon as possible. For some crazy reason, he let the mic, named Leth, talk him into becoming a Helljumper. Even if it was crazy, they tended to give him a 50 cal to shoot, and explosives to play with. Seemed like fair enough compensation.

Next to Cpl. Ross, was Cpl. Cooper, a survivor of the Soma glassing. He had promised god that if he should live through the attack, he would join the men fighting so desperately against the Covenant, and lay his life on the line to save others not capable of defending themselves. His ship had cleared system, acted according to Cole Protocol, and made it safely to earth. The next day, Austin Cooper enlisted with the UNSC.

Hollings dismissed them to shower up and get dressed. Leth moved towards the lockers and started pulling out and donning the black ODST uniform.

"Stumpy! What a face to wake up to on this bright black day in space!" He purposely ignored the voice of Ross, the crack on his height, and continued to get dressed. Cuirteis Leth stood at 5'5 and weighed in at 168lbs. He was short, stocky and muscular, and had earned the nic name 'stumpy' pretty quickly.

"Whatsa matta stumpy?"

Leth snickered and responded, " I have a name."

"Yeah! Stumpy! Or was it Doc? How's Doc Stumpy?" Ross's face was positively lit up with energy. Where he got it, god only knows. But, the humor and good cheer was infectious. Leth grinned despite himself, and reached inside his locker to grab rolled up socks and throw them in his buddy's face.

"Ass."

"You love me shnookum's"

Cooper walked by, and commented, " Yo, if y'all start doin the bareback tango, that's gonna make one strange ass midget porn, and nobody's gonna be tryin to buy that shit." Cooper was taller than both of them.

Ross's attitude turned flamboyant, and he held up his hand at Cooper, and spoke in a feminine voice.

"Don't be jealous no one wants you in this shit honey"

This time it was several bunches of rolled up socks that pelted him from head to toe, and a few choice names. If this was supposed to be a deterrent, it didn't work, nor would it every really work. Ross finished dressing, and decided to be a smart ass one more time. He walked over closer to Leth, and struck what they called the 'vogue pose'.

"What the hell is it now?" Leth asked through the laughing. Never one to pass up an opportunity to make an ass of himself, Ross answered with glee, and with the same homo voice.

"I'm about to go collect my sexy outer shell, and then go on and get re-acquainted with my SPNKR, C-4, and 50 cal hotness. You and your short ass self just aren't doin it for me anymore girlfriend." He performed that flippant arm move most stereo typically associated with confrontational, snobby women, turned sharply, and walked off purposely shaking his ass from side to side. Laughter followed. Never a dull moment with Ross around.

At the end of the row, another guy stood, shaking his head at the antics of the men. Leth knew at a glance who it was. Kevin Raines wasn't the most social guy in the unit. He stood at 6 foot, 160lbs, with a large ODST tattoo on his back. He had seen more action than most on the ship, and had the nasty scars to prove it. Leth had been the medic to treat many of these, right there on the battle field. Raines had a long ugly scar that started on his right cheek, and wrapped halfway around his head from the melee blade of a brute shot. Another one, was a plasma burn scar that started on his neck, and reached as far as his upper chest and shoulders. There was no naming the others. Curiously enough he had refused the cloning technology to reduce it all.

His personality was not the most social, and he interacted voluntarily with only a few. He was a sniper, and a damn good one. He also had a problem with authority, when he believed he was right. Rumor was, he had been on his way to be a Sergeant, but had his rank stripped for what ever infringement. The exact reason varied with whomever you spoke to. Mostly it was an officer with a grudge. The end result was always the same. It happened during the war, and he got stuffed into an outfit they were sure he would be killed in. Instead, he survived, worked his way back to a Corporal, earning the respect and comradary of the men, and even a slight bit of fear. Raines's prowess with a sniper rifle was bordering legendary.

Leth zipped up his top and moved down the row, past Raines. He nodded at him in a greeting, and remarked, "Might want to get that hair cut. Manning will get on you if you don't man."

Raines shrugged, looking tired and bored. "See you in chow", he mumbled after the medic. Thinking to himself, _I'm an ass,_ he closed the locker door. A rumbling stomach pulled him like a fishing lore towards the dining hall. Cryo left you hungry enough to actually crave the molded protein and processed foodstuffs they served in deep space. He went through the locker rooms, down the corridor to the dining hall, collected his food, and grabbed a seat near the Doc, Ross, and Cooper. They were three people he really didn't mind being around. They made him laugh, and had a respect for him, and each other.

They had all been together since the war, years before it ended in fact. Raines didn't know the exact time, and he didn't really care too. It was irrelevant. They were all brothers in the same company, and had stepped on a lot of toes and taken a lot of chances to keep it that way. Raines remembered when he had been sent to this unit and company, and laughed to himself that after all this time rumors were still floating around about his past, and why he was there. But Doc, Ross and Cooper had never poked their noses were they didn't belong. They left him be, and accepted him as a fellow soldier and ODST. When he began proving himself with the rifle to his new unit, the respect and fear grew. Soon, it got to the point that he didn't even have to request it. It was just assumed the weapon was his. He named it Kate.

Raines sat down, and Cooper started in.

"Ahhh, the strong silent one returns. My people, we are blessed with the presence, of the awesome and deadly, One Hit Kill Kevin. Let us bask in his holy presence. Testify!"

Kevin Raines swallowed his bit of food before he choked from laughing, before turning to Cooper and saying softy, "Ya know Coop, I do believe you will make one fabulous Preacher one day."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Religion needs people that are good at selling bullshit."

The table erupted in laughter. Cooper laughed, "I'll have you heathens seeing the light of god soon."

"Yeah, " said Raines, " Put your god in the sights of my rifle and lets see what happens."

"Hey, the only heathen here is Doc. He dances around the bonfires naked!" Ross giggled.

"Pffftt, I don't get naked ya stupid git, and I didn't know you were so eager to see my junk swinging in the breeze."

" No one wants your door knob" Ross retorted.

"That's not what your mom said last night"

The was a chorus of 'OOOOOOOOOOOOHS!', followed by laughter. Manning sat at another table with other Sergeants, munching on bread that tasted like cardboard, and keeping an eye on all the other tables in front of him. He watched the table with Leth the medic, Ross, Cooper and Raines, and looked on as they laughed and traded playful jabs. The four were usually inseparable in the field. They were the squad Manning was assigned to, and had been with for some time now. He wondered, what was going to happen after this mission? Most all their contracts with the UNSC were coming to an end. It was ETS or re-enlistment for many across the unit.

***********************************************************************

Manning took another bite of the tasteless bread, and looked down at the papers in front of him. It was the duty roster for the next week. They'd be assigned to teams of seven, a five man ODST squad with two pilots, to a Falcon. Each team was to be on standby in the event they found something in the area.

At least they got to play in the newer, bigger versions of the Pelicans. Each had the brand new enhanced slip space engine added to it, and could be used for in space rescues and operations due to revised air locked cabins. They could last longer with out having to land for supplying, and various other fun things, one being the outfitting with brand new cloaking technology.

But Manning wasn't one for complaining, nor would he on this mission. It had taken four years to finally figure out where the portal had sent the Master Chief and the others. It had been so disheartening when the Chief didn't come back. But now, there was hope. Hope he could be found, and brought back to Earth for the hero's welcome he deserved, and would probably dislike.

Manning and his men had been fighting in Voi that day. When the Arbiter had returned by himself, one couldn't help but have a giant weight on the heart. Now it was time to be rid of that weight. He hoped they found something that could bring some kind if closure, and maybe, just maybe, if the Chief was alive, Manning would be able to tell his sister where he had disappeared to for so long.

Spartans were never listed as KIA, only MIA. So, in the sad event that they found the Chief dead, everyone involved in this operation would be sworn to silence on pain of having to deal with the ONI spooks. If the outcome was good, they would be able to see Earth and all her colonies rejoice.

Speaking of ONI, Manning caught a glimpse of one of them walking past in a corridor. Even after the war, and everything he'd seen, they still gave him the creeps. He didn't trust them, not as far away as Raines could kill them.

Deciding to forget everything he was thinking about at the moment, he shoveled in the last of his food, and pushed away from the table, and bused his tray. Time to get to work.

***********************************************************************

After chow, the teams formed and the men and women separated. Body armor and weapons were issued. Each team was assigned to their Falcon, and learned their positions on the duty roster.

Ross gripped the paper in his hand, and grinned. Not surprising, all of their names were grouped together, with two Marine pilots. He nearly shouted for joy when he saw they had no privates attached to them. He couldn't really stand rookies, they didn't take jokes too well. Some where, they all owed a sergeant a favor, which would probably come out in extra duty. A quick glance let him see that they were being paired with Sgt. Manning. _Good_ he though. He personally liked Manning. This was starting to look like it would be fun.

The _Soto Cano_ was buzzing with activity now. Teams took their turns on duty, while others drilled on the training decks. Three standard days passed, and the energy had not died. Many of the people on board were veterans, and rallied at the chance of finding the biggest hero of the war.

At the on board virtual range, Raines broke a record or two in marksmanship. When he was shooting, it was Zen. Every time he pulled the trigger, it was almost like he was firing an extension of himself. Kevin was the kind of person who believed in energy attunement, auras, and the sixth sense some people had. This was possibly one of the reasons he got along with the Doc so well. Doc Leth was a pagan. How the man was still capable of believing in a god after all he had witnessed, was anyone's guess. But the two had had more than one conversation over the years regarding several related topics. The medic was actually incredibly stable despite the horrors he'd experienced in war, and that was something Raines had to respect. He himself was so numb at the prospect of killing, he barely passed his pysch exams, and had been recommended for counseling several times. He was pretty sure they were worried about him going postal. It must have had something to do with his home world being slagged. There wasn't all that much left of Harvest, and many of the survivors had enlisted for revenge. He would never admit to such fallacy. Revenge was not the only motivator one needed to join a war. All of this of course, he never shared with anyone. Not a soul.

He was lost in his thoughts when the range sergeant asked if he was going to spend the whole day there. Once again, he just shrugged his shoulders, returned the gear and left.

***********************************************************************

Ross sat in the hanger with his feet up, listening to Cooper and Leth discuss their religions with a grin. It was a lot like trading jabs instead. But, it killed time until duty, and he always loved to see the Doc get Cooper riled up, with passive humor. He was busy giggling at them when his eye caught Raines wondering towards the weapon rack, silently, and almost invisibly, without even trying.

"How the hell does he do that?"

Cooper and Doc Leth paused and turned towards Ross curious at what he was talking about.

"That," he said pointing, " I almost didn't see the fucker walk in."

They spun around and had their curiosity satisfied.

"That's cause he's like a damn ninja. You hick boys can be sneaky you know."

"I'll have you know Coop, that just cause I'm from Wilderness, doesn't make me a hick."

"Redneck then?"

Doc Leth laughed. Ross waved a hand and them.

"Someone doesn't have to be from Earth to not be considered country, crotch jockeys."

Cooper took another look over at Raines, and watched him sit down on the floor and pull out a cleaning kit, while laying his rifle across his lap. Carefully the guy began working, as it were a piece of art in his hands.

The inside on ships always bordered on chilly, but Cooper was not trying to freeze right there in the bay. He stood up and went over to the panel and holo pedestal to talk to Tatsuo, one of the on ship smart AI's. The tiny figure of a man appeared on the holo pad, dressed in what Ross had told him before, was the traditional garb of the historic Ninja originating in Japan. His face was shrouded in a black mask, and he had a small sword across his back. He bowed.

"Good evening Corporal Cooper. How may I serve you?"

"Can you do anything about the cold? Man, I'm freezing in here."

"It is the standard 72 degrees"

"Man I'm from a desert planet. I don't get hot till it's over 100!"

"I'll see what I can do Corporal." Tatsuo bowed again and flickered off.

***********************************************************************

There was a commotion on board. One of the probes had found something, the scuttlebutt claiming part of a ship amongst the wreckage of the Ark.

ONI already had their paws all over the remains of the Ark, and had discovered the wreck or at least pieces of _The Forward unto Dawn_.

Cooper and the others hustled over to the weapons rack, while Raines slapped his rifle together in what was probably record time. Armor plates were being strapped on, and formations lined up. Sergeants yelled out commands, and the Marines and ODSTs went to attention. The Falcons were already supplied, and the pilots were busy in the cockpit prepping the ship.

They learned each one of them would have an onboard AI with them. Command wasn't playing around. Each of them had space worthy suits inside the ship, along with cutting tools, and grav lock boots. In a last minute decision, they decided to double up the teams on each ship. Marching up the ramp of the Falcon next to Manning's team, was Sgt. Bastogne and his squad. They nodded to each other.

They loaded into the ship. The pilots yelled at them to strap in. Cooper leaned slightly to get a better look at them. Both female. He let out a low whistle. Doc Leth rolled his eyes.

Ross, even though he was held in place by the harness and crash netting, still managed some how to slouch, and have his foot laid out lazily in front of him. His head was cocked to the side, and his posture over all made him look bored. He couldn't help but look across at the second squad. There was the Sergeant, a Corporal, a Lance Corporal, and two privates, probably rookies on their first run.

The Privates, looked awfully nervous, and Ross had the irresistible urge to pick.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"I'm not 'Sir' I work for a living. It's Corporal Ross. What's your name?"

"Private Smith."

"Why so anxious looking private?"

"First mission sir."

"Oh, you're a rookie. I wouldn't be to worried."

"Why's that?"

"Because if something happens to the ship we'll die pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure we'd never even feel it'

Private Smith's eyes widened, and Cooper whacked Ross in the helmet.

"Quit selling your shit, damn ginger. Don't listen to him kid. Took a grav hammer to the head in the war. You aint got anything to worry about. Just do what you're told, and take a queue from us, well, everyone but him." Cooper jerked a thumb in Ross's direction. In response, Ross lowered his head and held out his hand as if to bow. There was a bubble of laughter.

The other private glanced over on the other side of Doc Leth and pointed at the obviously limp form.

"He seems pretty relaxed."

Cooper leaned and looked over, spotting Raines, slouched and limp next to the doc. For a split second, he could have sworn he heard a snore. His sniper rifle was cradled under one arm, the other in his lap. His head leaned back and rolled from side to side, incased in his helmet.

Cooper shook his head and said, "He's a freak. He'll sleep through anything. Covie attack, orbital drop, Colonels speech, bombing, it doesn't matter. Falls asleep in seconds. Always hugs that damn gun. Just don't try to touch it. Last rookie who did is still waiting for his testicles to re-drop."

There was an audible 'gulp'. Cooper laughed it off with a wave and said," Don't worry about anything. Just stick close, you'll be fine. And Dawkins if you keep mockin me with your hand Imma have to shove it up your ass when this bird lands."

There was another chorus of laughter, and Dawkins, the Lance Corporal sitting across from Cooper, feigned fear. Spirits were good. They hoped that their luck was as well.

***********************************************************************

The pilot, Chief Thever and her co-pilot guided their ship, _The River Tam_, towards the coordinates, deep in the debris field that was the Ark. Each ship had an assigned grid to search, while avoiding potentially dangerous pieces of wreck. The work would take some time.

Ross stretched his legs. "Sgt. Manning." he asked, " Permission to gripe sir?"

Manning sighed, "Given, till you annoy me."

"Much appreciated Sarge. I was wonderin, Why are we here? Not that I'm complaining, by any means. To find the Chief would be an untold honor. But we sit here in this fine ship, piloted by to very _fine_ Marines, armed and armored for war. We expecting a battle?"

"The brute resistance still has pockets scattered all over the place. You never know when a fight might pop up. Besides, standard protocol, even for a rescue team. Though, I didn't think I'd ever hear you complain about playing with weaponry."

"You mean I didn't travel out here for the awesome accommodations, gourmet food? Where's the complaint department?"

Manning tossed him a grenade.

"Pull the pin and wait for your number to be called." More laughing.

"I'm guessing you're annoyed?"

"Now what would give you that idea?"

***********************************************************************

Thever swerved to avoid a nasty looking piece of metal. A small, black and green hologram of a man in ancient ninja garb with a sword on his back, sat in what looked like a meditative stance. Lines of binary code and data streamed across the surface of his body.

"You cut it rather close ma'am. This is a recurring theme in your piloting skills."

"What a polite criticism Tatsuo. I suppose this is based in the fact you believe you could do better?"

"It is based in the fact that I know I could. My calculations and programming do not lie." His hologram gained a blue tinge for a moment, and Thever smirked at the AI's attempt at humor. He was young, and a member of the new generation of smart AI's. His program date was only from a few months ago.

"Ma'am, I'm detecting the presence of an energy source, with in a piece of the Ark wreckage."

She moved the Falcon closer to the energy, which appeared to be within a large, oblong piece of the Ark.

Tatsuo ran scans, and tried to determine what it was. The men and women aboard _The River Tam_ were disappointed it was not a distress beacon.

"Ma'am, I believe it is the engine or at least the functional part of the Slipstream Portal that originally transported the _Forward unto Dawn_ here."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've already hailed the ONI officers and notified them of this find."

"What? Tatsuo why?"

"Protocol and orders ma'am."

Thever rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, Tatsuo's coloring when bright red.

"The _Soto Cano_ is under attack. Brute ships have appeared out of slip space and began their attack. Command is calling all units into battle."

As soon as the AI had announced it, the news came over the comm.

"Shit" Thever yelled, when the close proximity alarm went off, and Tatsuo announced there was an incoming enemy craft bearing down on them.

The brutes had been committing hit and go attacks for the last four years. They must have followed the ship to this sector of space.

"Everyone hang on!" Thever yelled. The ship lurched to the left and she avoided a mass of plasma. The men in the back were jolted and shook about in their harnesses.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph….." Cooper muttered

"And Bob" Ross added. Cooper turned his head slowly. If the helmet was off, there would have been an incredulous look on his face. Ross shrugged.

"Seemed like a good idea. You were just throwing out names anyway."

"Jack ass."

Inside the cockpit, Thever was fighting with the controls to take evasive action. Tatsuo had begun to fire the guns, but getting through the shields on the brute ship was not easy. He was standing on his holo pedestal now, working to keep the ships systems in order, and aiming at the same time. The ship shook violently.

"We took a hit!" Thever groaned through gritted teeth.

"It was just a scrape ma'am. All systems still functioning, hull integrity at 100%, pressure intact." Tatsuo said calmly. At least someone was keeping their head. When the ship jerked again, Doc Leth was woken up, and asked what the hell was going on. Then he rolled his eyes when he realized Raines was still passed out.

"Did he hit his head or something? How in the hell is he still sleeping?" Sergeant Bastogne yelled. The doc shrugged and held up his hands. Not once did the man wake up, but when the rifle almost fell out of his hands, his grip tightened and he held it closer.

People shouting orders, and trying to keep the chaos at bay filtered in on the comm. The battle had caught the UNSC forces by surprise, but they were recovering quickly. 25 years of experience had taught them well. It wasn't long before the UNSC had the upper hand, and the _Soto Cano_ had the main Brute ship running.

Thever keep the Falcon flying, and Tatsuo had taken out several with his shooting. When she asked him, he calmly answered he had advanced tactical targeting programming. They made another pass at the giant slip space engine, trying to shake a fighter off their tail.

"Tatsuo, ya wanna do something about that?"

"Currently in progress ma'am. The pilot of that ship however, seems to have more combat experience, and is very evasive."

The ship lurched again, and warning signals beeped and flashed.

"Ma'am, one of the pressure seals have begun losing power, and I am unable to lock it down. It will have to be done manually."

The Co-pilot, named Garcia, unbuckled herself.

"I'll get it. Keep her flying!"

"Tatsuo, engage cloaking. Garcia get your ass back here quick!"

Garcia ran through the cabins pretty gracefully considering the shaking and violent rocking. On the way through she jumped over the legs of the ODST's and headed towards the back. It wasn't hard to find the malfunction, because Tatsuo made the near by lights flicker when she was close. She ripped off the plating and stared at the wires before digging in.

***********************************************************************

"Ma'am, I believe the brute ship firing at us currently may have some sort of heat detection."

"What makes you say that?"

"Our ambush attacks and evasive maneuvers have been tracked by it so far, as if we weren't cloaked at all. Incoming fire."

_The River Tam_ shook as if it had collided with another ship.

"Fuck! That was a hit." Thever yelled through gritted teeth.

"Not a deadly one. But Id advise against receiving such a blow again." Tatsuo calmly added.

"I'll keep that in mind." She replied dryly.

The _Soto Cano_ fired it's massive guns into the main ship, and the rounds punched a hole in the hull. The rush of atmosphere was visible for a brief moment, and so were the small internal explosions. UNSC ships were finishing off most of the smaller vessels. Tatsuo announced that he had brought down the brute fighter that had been firing on them.

Thever breathed a small breath of relief. Over the comm, command ordered them to do another sweep of the area for any enemies, then bring in the ships for damage assessment and debriefings. She pushed through the debris and slag, while Tatsuo did a scan sweep. They were not so damaged that they couldn't carry out the order before returning for servicing and assessment.

Thever took a path that brought her back towards the portal engine. Something caught her eye.

"_Soto Cano_, this is _The River Tam_, something's happening with a piece of the Ark wreckage."

"_River Tam_, please describe what you are seeing in detail, and have on board AI sent data stream. Over."

"Streams of energy, like electricity. It looks…almost as if it's powering up……" She let her words trail off, and started to get a really bad feeling in her chest.

"_River Tam_, be advised, Ark wreckage is now classified as dangerous by ONI, move away as quickly as possible, and return to docking bay for debriefing.

"Roger that." She turned away from the comm and focused on the controls before speaking to the AI. "Tatsuo fire up the engines, I want out of here _now._"

No sooner had she said the words, did she realize that the large chunks of metal were floating past the ship, moving from some unseen source…

"Ma'am, the ship is being pulled backwards, by what I can best describe as a gravity well."

"Fire the damn engines and get us out of here."

"I've been firing them for the last few seconds. Full burn it is then, and the air lock pressure has been restored. I believe Garcia is on her way back."

Despite pushing the engines as hard as they would go, Tatsuo announced they were still being pulled in towards the engine. There was a brilliant flash of light, and Sgt. Manning could see, even from his seat, the eerie blue glow, of what was unmistakably a portal, just like the one he had seen on earth the day the Chief disappeared. He could feel his heart in his throat. Something during the fight must have activated it again. How, was inconceivable, considering the entire thing was in ruins. But there was the portal, being generated by the engine, and spinning in space.

"_Soto Cano_ this it _River Tam_, we're being pulled in, repeat, we're being _**pulled in**_. Engines are at full force, to no effect."

"_River Tam_, everything around you is being pulled in. Keep trying. How many men do you have onboard?

"Two full teams, repeat, ten ODSTs, my self, my co-pilot, and onboard AI designation 'Tatsuo'. Command, it's not happening. We can't break free."

"Keep trying Thever, that's an order."

"Roger that command." She practically yelled that last line into the comm. Why wouldn't she be trying?

The ship was vibrating, then it was shaking. There was nothing she could do. The portal could kill them, or deposit them somewhere in or out of slip space.

"Thever, what the _**Fuck**_ is going on in there?" Sgt Manning yelled. He didn't like not having control over any situation pertaining to him or his men.

"Hold on to something, like your panties Sergeant. It's gonna be a violently bumpy friggin ride."

Garcia was thrown from her feet several times. Making it back from the rear cabin was proving to be much harder. When she tried to make it through the doorway, the floor beneath her lurched, and she fell backwards, and everything went black.

_The River Tam_ was being slammed by the flying debris that was caught in the grip of the portal with them. It's dull steel gray hull was illuminated with the blue light, and it's engines continued to push and flare futilely

"We're going in, and there's not shit I can do about it."

"Oh boy, it's like an amusement park ride!"

"Ross, Shut up!" Cooper yelled. Private Smith gripped his assault rifle inside the crash netting, muttering prayers. Several curses were being yelled as they were slammed around, despite being strapped in with the harnesses. Smith looked over at Raines again, and yelled,

"You have **got** to be kidding me! What the hell is wrong with him!"

Raines was still limp with sleep, and gripping his rifle tight. Cooper said something along the lines of him not really being human. Leth grabbed onto the crash netting, and said with a flat tone, "Well you know what they say, Feet First into Hell!"

The ship spiraled into the portal with the rest of the garbage, and blinked out of sight of the rest of the UNSC forces. The comm's became crammed with transmissions and the ONI officers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

_The River Tam_ effectively disappeared from space, and any scanner or radar. The crew and command of the _Soto Cano_ stared in horror as the portal sputtered for a few more moments, before completely shutting down. What ever power had turned it on, was dead now, and the men and women on _The River Tam_ were gone, with no way back, to god knows where.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

A/N : Well thats two. I'll probably begin work on three while watching family guy later tonight. I'll try and have it up before the weekend is over! Thanks again.


	3. Thawing the Giant

Sorry it took so long for an update. My regualr schedule is busy. But thank you so much for the reveiws! They helped me get through a bit of writers block and push to get this chapter up. Keep them coming!

~ArmoredSoul - TY very much! You made me lol a lot. :)

~DarkSideofthecoin - Thank you so much for the compliments. FireFly and Halo are two of my most favorite series. I'm trying very hard to get every character right, from Mal all the way to Cortana and the Chief. I hope I keep impressing you. :D

~Eipok - I'm glad you picked up on the name of the falcon. Keep reading, all questions will be answered eventually. :P

~Tremerid - I hope my writing is ok, I'm very rusty at it. I base all my OC's on people I really know. One is even my husband. I got the idea's for them, and how they interact from watching him with his friends at work. Don't worry, the ODST's are coming, with a fury. lol

Once again, I own nothing but my OC's personalities.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Well now…." Mal stared.

"What in the ruttin name of hell would make someone wanna get frozen in a tube? "

"I dunno, why don't you ask him Jayne?" Zoe responded sarcastically.

Mal felt kinda dumb, just standing there gawking at the oddity in front of them. " Are we even sure it's a guy? Or… human-like?"

Jayne shrugged. "Could be a robot". Zoe and Mal stared.

"So, I'm a mite fuzzy on what it exactly is that we're starin at."

"Sir, where's the source of the distress signal?" Mal looked down at the scanner, and then glanced up around the room. He noticed a metal pedestal in the middle of the walk way, that they'd some how over looked. He pointed. "It's comin from there"

"Mal, Zoe, look what I found." They turned. Jayne reached down at something next to the cryo tube. He bent down and tugged. Upon standing up straight he was holding what was unmistakably, a gun.

"Ain't never seen a gun this, and I've played with all manner of fire arms."

"We'll let you get acquainted with your new girlfriend, while me and the Captain figure out whats going on."

"Shiny!" Jayne grinned. Zoe turned back around and rolled her eyes.

"So what do you think sir?"

"Not sure. Might be a kind of computer. We already know the place's still got some power." He moved closer to inspect the pedestal. There were buttons glowing, and blinking.

************************************************************************

Cortana almost didn't believe what the ships scanners where telling her at first.

For the last four standard years, they'd be floating around what she had deduced was a moon. What part of the galaxy they were in or what system it was remained a mystery. Were they still even in the Milky way? She had no idea, and Cortana did not like being ignorant of such vital information. For four years, she stood silent watch over the Chief, as he lay frozen in cryo. His last words had been, "Wake me when you need me". She had been unable to hold back from whispering, "I'll miss you".

She had set the distress signal on a loop and hoped for the best. Hope? An AI didn't hope. She calculated the odds over and over until they added up enough times in their favor. She was sure they'd be found eventually, but when was the real question. To fill up the time, Cortana learned as much as she could about the moon they were trapped in orbit around, and the curious debris floating with them.

It was the wreckage of ships. But the style was like nothing in her data banks. The obvious classifications were there, like fighters, transports and command ships. They weren't UNSC, past or present. Was it possible it was another solar system, with a different form of intelligent life?

Questions remained unanswered, and calculations were performed over and over again. The wait was long, and made hard because her 'life' was almost up. The descent had already begun almost two years ago, but she'd be able to hold it at bay by deleting and storing data in another memory crystal in the ships computers. She had felt, more or less 'fat' with all the incredible amounts of data she'd collected years ago, from grave mind, and High Charity. The relief from unloading all that data was incredible.

All was quiet, and John slept peacefully for a long time. Cortana had taken a detailed account of his injuries, and would have flinched were she human. Plasma burns, a concussion, broken ribs, and possibly a ruptured spleen were only the top of a laundry list of problems. The cryo had frozen him, so that the injuries would not be made worse, but they'd still be fresh when he woke up. But he'd never complain. It wasn't in the Chief's nature.

Then, one day, out of the many, Cortana picked up an energy signal. She scanned, and weakly picked up the pulse of a ship. Diverting all available power to boost the already weak distress call, she pumped it out on the radio, and waited for a response. When none came, she began to wonder if they could pick up the message on that frequency, or if they spoke English, or were even human. The minutes seemed like hours. Nothing happened.

Then, the ship began moving towards them. Cortana could have jumped for joy. It moved closer, and she absorbed as much information about it as possible. Like the wrecks floating around them, this was unlike anything in her data banks. No ship in the UNSC matched, and certainly nothing in the Covenant.

The ship docked with the remains of the _Forward unto Dawn_, using some kind of magnetic clamp. She waited, and calculated the odds. Outside the door to the cryo bay, someone was trying to gain entry. Years ago Cortana had powered down and locked them for security, and out of boredom. When who ever it was tried to enter nothing happened at first. Then, she decided to let them open.

On a whim, she decided not to turn any of the lights on. Entering, were three figures… human to her relief. Oddly, the suits they were wearing looked highly outdated. Down right ratty would have been a good description. Cortana wanted to listen to them before revealing herself. Their reactions could go in so many different directions.

There was the Captain, whose name was apparently 'Mal', a possible abbreviation of Malcolm. Then a woman, named Zoe, and a rather large, and what appeared to be less that average intelligence man named Jayne. The irony of the last one was not lost on her. They wandered the room for a minute, voicing their curiosity, in English, and amazingly enough, an odd dialect of Mandarin.

The large guy, Jayne, was the first to find the Master Chief. The degree of confusion was extremely interesting. Did they not have cryo systems or something similar? When the captain and Zoe moved closer to the pedestal that contained her chip, she decided a small revelation was in order. If she wanted to get herself, and the Chief out of this, the opportunity was right in front of her.

The captain moved closer, she decided to greet them bluntly.

************************************************************************

Mal nearly jumped out of his suit when the pedestal lit up with light suddenly.

"_Ung Jeong Jia Ching Jien Soh!" _

Standing ontop of the little platform now was a woman made of blue light.

"_Ni How_", she said politely, " You have some mouth there Captain."

"Well, that tends to happen when I get all surprise like by miniature women…… that pop out of…… stuff." Zoe snickered. Mal didn't know how to make sense of what was in front of him at the moment. The woman, who ever, or what ever she was, must have sensed it.

"Have you never seen an AI before?"

"AI? You mean artificial intelligence?" Zoe asked.

"Yes."

"Is this some kind of _Nien Mohn Fe Wuh?_?" Mal was blunt. She turned toward him and blinked, shifting position on her stand.

"Alliance? You mean the UNSC?"

"UNSC?"

"United Nations Space Command."

Mal's face was unreadable. "Aint never heard of that either. Way I see it missy, is you got yerself a whole mess of explaining to do, if you wouldn't mind. I 'm just awful gorram curious as to what is goin on here."

"And what's in it for us?"

"Jayne," Zoe sighed," There's that talking thing again."

Cortana signed and lowered her head. She was trying to hold back the anger she was feeling. Where it was coming from, she had no idea. It was the rampancy, had to be. These people were only curious and rightfully so.

"I- We need your help Captain."

"You? We? You mean that awful big green popsicle over there in the coin tube? Who are you?"

"I'm Cortana of the UNSC, that the 'big green' popsicle is the Master Chief Sierra 117. We were stranded on what's left of this ship years ago. It would be very much appreciated if you could help us."

"Well I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the _Serenity_. This is Zoe my first mate, and that's Jayne…. Ma'am….. I'm not sure as to how a computer program should be called and all."

"Cortana is fine."

Zoe was chewing the inside of her lip. "Alright then miss Cortana. Tell us how we get the two of you out of here, and back on the boat. These suits only have so much oxygen."

The blue color in her form got brighter, and she smiled. "Gladly. The release clamps on the Chiefs cryo tube are computer activated only. I can release them, and all of you will have to move him to your ship."

Jayne was practically hugging the gun, but apparently had been paying attention. " Why don't we just wake'm up here? Save some work?"

Cortana dimmed. " That wouldn't be a good idea."

"Jayne, remember the last time we- er, the captain woke someone up from cryo?"

"So this guy'll turn into a naked screamin loony girl?"

Mal closed his eyes. Zoe threw up her hands. "Yes, that's exactly what will happen."

"Moving right along then, how exactly are we gonna move yer computer program self Cortana?"

"You can take my chip out of the base here. You might want to grab the portable holo projector. I'm not sure how well UNSC technology will interface with your's." She made the projector pop out, and the clamps on the Chiefs tube open.

Mal looked around for a moment, and didn't even try to wipe the confused look off his face. "This trip just keeps getting more interesting."

Moving the cryo tube wasn't hard but it was kinda bulky. Zoe grabbed the chip and projector out of the pedestal and pocketed them. Navigating the corridors was a mite frustrating and Jayne was sure to complain as much as he could before Mal told him to shut it.

Moving the bulk up to _Serenity_ and her hold was a different story. Wash had to send down a tow cable so they could attach it to the tube

"Captain, what the hell are you bringing in? Did we find something?"

"In a manner of speaking…"

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"WHOA, Captain, what is that?"

"It's a shiny ol pony Kaylee, made of bonified rainbows and sunshine." Mal pulled his helmet off. Something wasn't sitting right in the pit his stomach. He walked over to Zoe and grabbed the holo projector and crystal chip. Roughly he inserted it, put the projector down on a crate and started undoing his suit.

Cortana's small form popped and she looked around curiously, or, at least her avatar did. The projector had super refined scanners.

Mal dropped the suit in it's holder, ahead of Zoe and Jayne. He looked down and Cortana and said, " Welcome aboard _Serenity_, now I do believe an explanation is owed to me so as to satisfy my curiosity. Who are you?"

"My designation is Cortana. I am a smart AI created by the UNSC."

"Who's the frozen dinner?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra 117."

Kaylee wandered down from the catwalk. "What is this captain? Is that a person in that big 'ol tube?"

"I would certainly hope so."

Zoe and Jayne grabbed seats among the boxes and crates.

" We were stranded aboard the remains of the _Forward unto Dawn_ after we destroyed an alien construct call the 'The Ark', and helped to stop the Halo devices from destroying all life in the galaxy. The Halo's and the Ark were made to contain a parasite called the flood. Long story short, we wiped out the flood, and all the weapons, and finally defeated the Covenant forces. The Covenant is an organization of various alien species on some kind of religious quest. They appeared on the fringes our colonies years ago, attacking any human ship the came across, and glassing the planets as they left."

"Aliens?"

"Glass?" Zoe asked, confused. Cortana looked at her.

"Bombarded the surface with hot plasma till it was nothing but a wasteland of molten glass."

"_Ah Yah Tien Ah_" Everyone glanced up and noticed Inara and Wash standing on the cat walk. Simon and River were close by.

"My god, did the planets have any warning?" Zoe's face only betrayed a hint of emotion .

"No. Millions died in an instant without even a chance to run, or defend themselves.

Cortana continued with what she was saying.

"It was indeed hell. Billions have died over the course of the war, millions in civilian lives alone. The human race fought back with a fury though, and we started to win. We won back Harvest, Kaynor, and we repelled them when the Cole Protocol finally failed, and they found Earth."

At this statement, there was a chorus of 'what', 'are you kidding me?' and various mandarin swear words.

"I don't understand.' Cortana said simply.

"_Buh Kuh Nuhn_, Are you tryin to sell us some tripe bout you two bein from 'Earth that was'?" Mal practically spat.

"Earth that was?" Cortana asked, " Earth that _is_. Earth and her colonies."

"The blue lady found the lost ones. " River said whistfully.

"Doctor, whats your screw ball of a sister saying?"

Mal leveled a dirty look at Jayne for his comment, and Simon shrugged.

"Do I ever know what she's saying? Even now with things so much better?"

"Ok, ok, " Mal stood up. " I'm not ready to rightly buy that the talking program and the frozen dinner are from 'Earth that was' just yet. That's just a mite to incredible for my tastes. Add on top of all that almost certain unpleseantness, you're trying to tell us there's some aliens out there on some kind of religious journey, lookin to wipe us outta existence? I'mma be just a little bit sorry that I'm ever so skeptical." His voice was getting louder.

"Were looking to wipe us out. Except for a loyalist faction of Brutes, the Sanghelli have taken alot of power, and are aiding the UNSC in the war effort now, or were. I don't know the present situation."

Mal just stared at her. Wash shifted, and said, " Well I've got the feeling my heads on the verge of exploding. Anyone else?" They all glanced at him, with that 'you're an idiot' expression. "Well, then I give up. I'm guessing it's normal for us to be picking up weird folk with these strange stories of grandeur. We should be used to this by now. Last time it was Simon, and the strange, albeit sweet River that reads minds, this time it's a super smart computer program that looks like a transparent blue woman, who's claiming to be from Earth that was, and her frozen, jolly green giant of a partner. This is just another day in the life of the crew of _Serenity."_

Cortana blinked at him. The feeling of being slightly over burdened by outlandish information was mutual on both sides. "Captain, would you please explain this 'Earth that was'? I have nothing in my data banks that comes even remotely close." _That was a lie._

"I'll make it short and sweet. Long time ago Earth got to full up, couldn't sustain the population. So everyone that could hopped on a ship and took off into the black. Searched a long time till they found a new system they could plant them pretty selves on. Terraformed some planets, dumped people on them, and now we have the verse as we know it. Good enough? "

"It will do, but I don't believe this is a situation that will resolve it's self at the moment. There is another issue that I feel is more pressing."

"Oh right, your big 'ol frozen friend?"

"He sustained substantial injuries before entering cryo, without the anti freeze fluids for his lungs. I heard your man Jayne call someone a Doctor earlier."

"We do indeed have a doctor little blue miss. Why don't he get down here and do what he's paid to."

Simon stopped listening and started moving down the catwalk stairs. River glided around him however and made it down first. No one stopped her, but just watched. Simon moved around her and towards the cryo tube. His brow furrowed, and he said, "That's a human in there? He looks about seven feet tall."

"Hence the giant comments Doc." Wash helpfully added.

"There's a control panel that slides open on the side. It links up directly to his vital signs and physical condition assessment. I'll let you see what you have to deal with before I start the defrost process."

"Well I appreciate it."

"He's dreaming…" River squalled. Cortana looked at her.

"Your body is completely shut down in cryo. I don't think - " Then she checked his vital through the wireless link. John was indeed dreaming, as impossible as it was, inside of cryo sleep.

"She's right," Simon said," This say's he's deep in REM sleep."

_How could this girl possibly know what is going on with him?_ Cortana terminated this thought process when she realized there was a hint of protectiveness, and maybe even jealousy in it.

"And should be dead." Simon said. Mal looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"This says at the time of cryo entry, he had suffered second and third degree burns, several broken ribs, a punctured spleen, broken clavicle, fractured ulna, shattered tarsal's, one collapsed lung, and a severe concussion. Multiple lacerations and bruises. This is what people in ship crashes come in to the ER with, once in a blue moon. He didn't need someone to drag him in here?"

"Floated in on his own."

Zoe whispered something along the lines of ' damn'. Wash and Kaylee cringed.

"I can't medically believe he was able to do anything on his own. The pain alone, would make anyone drop. No human could endure all that and continue on." Simon shook his head.

"Maybe not a human, but a Spartan could."

"Spartan?" The doc asked confused.

"The best soldier the UNSC has to offer. Are you done Doctor?"

"Uh, yeah I guess. The med bay is already set up."

"Good, I've already started to wake him up. It will take a few moments. I must warn you, I wouldn't crowd the area, and put all weapons out of sight."

"I wouldn't be givin orders on my boat miss Cortana."

"With all due respect Captain. John is about to wake up in a strange place, injured, and the memory's of what happened before still fresh in mind. He might be a bit…. 'jumpy'." _Did she just call him John? _

"No on hurts my crew." His voice had a sharp, dangerous tone.

"If that happened, it wouldn't be intentional. Think of it like a reflex."

Mal would have spoke more, but the controls on the tube started to beep.

"He's almost awake." Simon announced. Zoe and Jayne stood up and backed away. She took the gun out of Jaynes hands and placed it behind a crate. He protested, but a single look from her shut him up. Was walked down and stood behind his wife, holding her hand. Kaylee and Inara remained next to each other, above everyone else. Mal never moved to unholster his gun, but stood there, crossed his arms and waited.

The inside of the tube fogged up with the release of some kind of gas, and then suddenly cleared. Simon wrinkled his nose when he smelled some of the residual eeking out of the vents. He looked over at the vitals screen, and saw that all the mans organs were still working. Blood flow was returning, but he was still in REM sleep. This cryo system was unlike anything he'd ever seen. To his knowledge, the Alliance didn't even have technology like this.

Cortana stood by, watching the Chief slowly wake. A part of her wanted to hug him as soon as he moved out of the tube. _Hug? What was wrong with me? First I get jealous over a teenage girl, then completely forget my formality and called John by his name, and now I wanted to hug him. A steep road indeed…._

There was movement inside. The lid lifted, and everyone held their breath.

************************************************************************

_Black skies, and lightning all around me. Just another battle field, in a long line of many I've conquered. This seemed different. Every time the lightning flashed, I caught glimpses of people surrounding me, in green and black armor. The helmets vary, and I can see the familiar glint of a gold polarized visor. Spartans, my brothers and sisters. ODSTs are standing with them, civilians too. Marines. Everyone lost in the war. My chest feels heavy…_

"They are always with you, watching over you. You gave them hope in the war, you gave everything. They keep you safe now. It's gratitude. You saved everyone."

_I look around, for the source of the voice. This isn't right. They are all just standing there. _

"You are no demon. Now, wake up."

_I can feel my heart beating faster. Pain starts to cover me like molten glass. Is this just a dream? Why does it hurt so bad? God I just want to scream. Just let it be over….and I fall to the ground."_

"Wake up!"

************************************************************************

It was cold, and John opened his eyes slowly. The light coming through his visor was bright, and hurt his eyes, despite the polarization. The area outside the lid of the cryo tube, certainly did NOT look like the bay of the _Forward unto Dawn_, or any UNSC ship he'd ever been on. He tried flexing his fingers, and feet. They protested with stiffness. His foot had a dull throbbing pain, that got sharper and sharper. His abdomen was on fire, and his head started to throb. He tried focusing his eyes on something in front of him, but it didn't work out to well. His vision blurred, but he could see figures, and they looked human. _Well that's one positive._ There was a horrible burning feeling when he tried to take a breath, before he realized he couldn't inhale to full capacity. One of his lungs was damaged. He'd worry about it later. He was fully awake, and it was time o figure out what was going on, and who had woken him up.

He placed his hand on the glass, and pushed up. The automatic open didn't occur for some reason. The sluggishness, and unsure element in his movements was disturbing. Every motion was a punishing, painful chore. He sucked it up and moved his body forward.

Mal wasn't sure what to think as he watched the previously popsicled man begin to move out of the tube. Cortana was claiming he was some kind of super soldier, and that they were both from 'Earth that was'. He had an awful lot he wanted to ask this 'Master Chief', and a strange feeling he should have just avoided the wreckage of their damn ship all together.

The lid opened all the way, and the Chief sat up, and moved out of the tube. Cortana noted that he favored his right foot just ever so slightly. It was almost impossible that anyone else had noticed. His head remained angled down, but there was no way he wasn't assessing his surrounding. She knew him better than that. No one moved or said anything. What was only a few seconds, seemed to last an eternity to her. It had been four years since she'd seen him, and she quickly prevented her avatar from glowing brightly in response. _Control yourself dammit. _The Captain moved toward him, and instantly, the Chiefs arm shot up, holding a magnum, aimed right between Mal's eyes. _He never did put it back before he went into cryo…_

Everyone in the cargo bay jumped. Kaylee squeaked when the gun was pointed.

The Captain stopped instantly. Chief spoke first, in a voice that was even deeper and scratchier than before.

"Where am I, and who are you? Where's Cortana?"

"Why don't you not point yer firearm at the Captain of this here ship." Mal remained unshaken, even with a gun in his face.

"I'm right here Chief. It's ok. We're safe, as far as I can tell."

"We've gotten to some talkin before she woke your gorram ass up. Now listen to her, cause I don't take kindly to havin guns pointed at me on my own ruttin ship."

"Not until my other two questions are answered."

"You don't tell me what to do on my ship _ever-"_

The Chief snapped his head up to look the Captain right in the eyes finally. This time, it had the desired effect on him. Something about staring into that gold visor was intimidating. But, the Chief was not with out the proper respect for someone holding rank like this.

"You said this is your ship, Captain."

"That would be a correct assumption."

"If you'll pardon me Captain, I have no idea how long I've been in there, and I've been fighting a war for years. I've woken up somewhere I don't recognize. If you can answer my questions I will be happy to lower my firearm so we can figure this out peacefully."

Mal had every intention to tell him to put the gun down first, and where he could stick it, when he heard Zoe say, "Sir?". As much as he hated too, he answered the mans questions, and made a mental note not to tell anyone about the fact he truly believed this man was a good shot

"You are on the firefly class transport _Serenity_, and you're pointing that sidearm at the Captain, Malcolm Reynolds. That's my first mate Zoe." He nodded in her direction. Zoe nodded back, her fingers quietly aching for her gun, and she didn't like where this guy was aiming his. Master Chief glanced at the dark skinned woman briefly. He straightened up, ignoring, and hiding the pain, and holstered the magnum on his leg. Holding out his hand he said, " Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra 117." It was rigid and formal, straight shot, and screamed of someone that was career military.

Mal looked up, and down, and up again before taking the giants hand. He couldn't help but think how small and girlish his paw looked in this guys. Also, he seemed to hold back on his grip. This could have been from injury.

"Well now that this is out of the way, nice to see you again Chief. It's been four years. "

Inside, he was slightly shocked. _Four years?_ John thought. " Really? Seems like it was only yesterday."

_Did he just make a joke?_

Mal looked around, and up at his crew. " I do believe the show is over folks. I don't pay yall to stare and gawk." Jayne made a face and got up.

Wash twirled around, and made a comment about making sure the ship didn't crash. "You better not crash my boat." Mal yelled after him. Inara stood and looked down on them for a few moments, before re-entering her shuttle. The look on her face was unreadable.

Chief stood there, but looked around some more. This was a civilian vessel, clearly, but not a model he'd ever studied. What was next was unclear, but he had to find a way to make contact with UNSC forces, and report his situation and debrief.

He looked down at Cortana on her holo pad and asked, " Any chances of finding out how far we are from the closest UNSC ship?"

" Slim at best. I've talked to the Captain, and they have never even heard of the UNSC."

He let that sink into his mind for a moment, and decided not to respond. It sat heavy in his chest, right next to the horrible suffocating feeling, and intense pain. He needed medical attention.

"We'll get about all that later. You're on my boat now. Do what I say when I ask you, look out for my crew, we won't have too many issues. " Mal walked away, partially aware of the gold visor following him. There was a lot on his mind, and the burden of knowing he may of placed his crew in danger again was heavy on his heart.

"They stand around you, like a shield."

Master Chiefs attention was drawn immediately to a small skinny girl that he'd not noticed, even with the blip indicating her presence on the HUD. She'd slipped behind the cryo tube and was inspecting it as she talked to him. He wasn't sure how to react, so he just answered her.

"What do you mean?" His voice was horribly scratchy.

"I can't see them, but I know they are there."

Simon walked over quickly to his sister. "Uh River, why don't you go see if the Captain or Wash need help on the bridge. The computer might have shorted out again." She smiled sideways at him, and then looked at Cortana.

"He's so polite when he wants to tell me to leave." River went skipping down into the common area.

The Chief couldn't help but think she was a little odd, but so was everyone on the ship. They talked funny, except for the Doctor and what seemed to be the pilot. To also have never heard of the UNSC, what backwater uncharted area of the Milky way was this? Were they still in the Milky Way?

"I'm sorry about her. If I get a chance to explain later I will. Your AI, Miss Cortana had said you were injured." Simons voice was unsure. He was clearly intimidated.

The Chief looked at him. "Yes."

"You can follow me to the med bay over here." He said, scratching his head.

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A/N: I'm heading off to start the fourth chapter now. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Next up, the ODST's less than graceful landing. :D


	4. Landing on Lilac

Ok, it's WAY late where I live, and I finally finshed this chapter. I hope it doesn't drag , b/c I fear it does. Keep the reviews coming! I'm happy you guys are really liking this.

Once again, I own nothing, cept my OC's personalities.

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Leth opened his eyes slowly, and tried to move his head, wincing at the soreness. What had happened? Where were they? When he was able to focus his eyes, the medic looked around the ship. Everyone was still strapped into the harnesses, and the crash netting was still in place. _Everyone's here at least. _But he was wrong. It didn't look like Sgt. Manning was in his place, but from the angle it was hard to tell.

Leth reached up above his head trying to find the harness release. It was situated right above him, and he let it pop. The restraints lifted immediately, but were still partially held in place by the crash netting. He left the crash netting intact to catch himself. How ever the falcon had landed, it was lopsided and his feet were dangling slightly down ward. Using the netting, he started to climb upwards, and dig his medical bag out of the overhead compartment. Some one had to be hurt after all that. There was movement to his left, and he reached for his side arm.

"Calm down man, it's just me." Raines said softly. He moved silently, and cat like through the oddly angled space. His sniper rifle was on his back, and his side arm was holstered.

"Fuck you scared me."

"Sorry." _I actually sound sincere this time, and not like an ass. " _Sergeant Manning isn't here, and there's a huge hole in one of the airlock rooms. Lots of blood too."

Leth felt his chest tighten. "You think that's from him? He was strapped in last I remember."

Raines's helmet moved back and forth in a 'no' gesture. "No. I think it's from the co-pilot. I don't recall her making it back before we went through the slip portal. "

"Shit. No sign of her I'm guessing?" Raines shook his head 'yes' this time.

"Well what's it look like? How long have you been up?"

"Not long. Got up to see what the outside looks like. Heard movin in here, wanted to see who was awake." Raines voice was stoic and cold. It was a bit unnerving if you weren't used to it.

Leth sighed, trying to shrug off the burden of the current situation. "Just me. I'll get everybody up and going, if they're going to get up at all."

"I'm going outside to find a better vantage point, watch our perimeter. My comm is working, contact me if anything happens." He didn't wait for the doc to respond. Raines turned and practically glided out of the wreckage, silent and as easily as a fish swims.

Leth looked around at the still limp and unconscious forms of everyone around him, before going back to work trying to get his aid bag. He grumbled something about Raines being six feet tall, and couldn't even help him get the damn bag down. Leth looked down for footholds, and decided to put one boot on Cooper's shoulder and another on Ross's. With one big heave, he pulled on the bag, but it wouldn't budge. He tried again. The thing didn't even shift. Readjusting his grip, Leth threw all his weight into to once more.

It didn't move an inch, but he lost his footing, and was now hanging by the bag strap.

"Sonofbitch." He muttered. Someone stirred beneath him.

"Hey stumpy man, haven't I told you and Ross bout your foul mouths. Damn heathens."

Leth looked down through his arms. "Morning Coop."

"And why the hell are you hanging from the equipment like a friggin monkey?"

Before the medic could answer, there was a shout of , " OH MY GOD MY FRIGGIN BALLS!!!!" Ross was awake. Leth laughed so hard he almost lost his grip. But his buddy was whimpering now.

"I think they retreated. This ain't natural!"

"HAHAH, dude shut up! If I fall from laughing and land on that poor private, he might be traumatized."

"STUMPY, I need you to look at my sac, am I still male?"

"HAhaAHah, seriously, shut it! I can't keep my grip."

"Oh just drop then, see if I care. Torture the poor boy. Everyone needs a leprechaun in their lap to mentally scar them at least once. I've got my disappearing scrotum to worry about!"

Leth kicked him in the head, and it bounced off the wall behind him because of his helmet.

"That's abuse!!! I'm telling mom!"

"Hey man, I hate to interrupt your cry fest, but Sergeant Manning ain't here." Cooper said in what was more of a groan. Ross looked to his right and added, " And neither is Kev. Maybe they woke up before us."

"He did. You just missed him leaving for the club full of hot babes."

Ross started dancing in his harness, but quickly grabbed at his groin again and groaned. Cooper laughed loudly. The Doc moved his gripping and yanked one final time, achieving success and nearly falling in the process.

"Get out of your harnesses guys? Help me check if anyone needs medical attention. Then we need to get this crash bullshit squared away."

"Yes mom jr."

"Shut up.

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It took several minutes to free themselves from the harnesses and netting. When they finally did it, Ross and Cooper had to climb down carefully. They released the other squad, and started to check for pulses. Some of them were waking up. Cooper called out that they were all alive. Leth headed for the cockpit with his bag. They hadn't heard anything from Thever yet.

When he got up there, the scene wasn't too encouraging. The front of the cockpit was cracked and shattered, and Leth could smell dry arid air flowing in. Thever was laid out in the pilots chair, passed out and still strapped in. Her chest rose and fell, but the breathing was shallow. He made his way in, working with the odd angle everything was sitting at.

"Thever? Chief Thever can you hear me?" Nothing. He made it next to her chair, and immediately, his eyes were drawn to the gigantic gash in her head. Her right arm was also laying at an odd angle, the bone protruding through her flesh up at the elbow. Leth was guessing there were several ribs broken too. He opened his bag and started pulling things out, hoping she didn't have internal bleeding. One way or the other, she was going to have to be moved. The lights in the cockpit flickered suddenly, and Tatsuo appeared on his holopad.

"Corporal Leth."

"Tatsuo, how bad is the damaged?"

"Bad enough. I believe the cockpit is damaged beyond all repair without UNSC facilities. The engine requires attention and so do the electrical systems."

"Can she fly again?"

"With the proper attention, yes."

"That's one encouraging thing I've heard today. Is communications down?"

"They require repair. If I had the time to work with Corporal Cooper, we may be able to get them online."

"I'll make sure I pass that on to Coop."

Thever groaned and shifted. She was waking up, and was going to be in serious pain.

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Ross crawled over each one of the men slapping their helmets, and singing, "Wake UP Wake UP you sleepy heads!"

Dawkins tried to reach out and punch him, but got his fist caught in the crash netting.

"haHAhahA" Ross laughed, before losing his balance and falling into a corner on his ass, arms and legs flailing.

The chuckles went around, and only got worse when he whined, "I've fallen and I can't get up."

Cooper walked over and helped his friend. Then they undid the netting and started helping the other guys out. One by one they got them up, and out of the Falcon. The guys were disoriented and banged up, but seemed ok. Sgt. Bastogne had blood trickling out from under his helmet, but said it was just a bang. They got out, and set a perimeter. When Cooper moved outside with them, he could see the real damage to the ship.

It wasn't horrific, but it would take repairs before she would fly again. Curiously enough, the bay holding the land vehicles looked like it might be intact. It laid up against a huge rock outcropping that was blotting out what appeared to be the almost noon sun. Cooper heard some shuffling inside, and watched Leth and Ross emerge carrying Chief Thever. Ross jumped down first and had Leth pass her to him. She was awake, and clearly in pain. Not one complaint left her lips.

Leth pulled off his helmet and gloves and focused more of his attention on Thever. Sgt. Bastogne pulled off his own helmet and wiped at the surprisingly small cut. Everyone else seemed to be following suit. The other Corporal, apparently named Bassik, with Bastogne's group only used one arm, and yelled out to Leth that he needed his arm set when he got the chance. The guys face was contorted in agony, but he just popped a morphine syringe and jammed it into his own leg. Lance Corporal Dawkins walked over to the Doc's bag, and dug a wrist splint out of it before shuffling to one of the Privates. He helped the kid pull off his arm plates and fit the split on. Bravely, the kid never made one sound, but was surely in agonizing pain.

Ross himself was having a little issue breathing. He had the nagging suspicion his ribs were bruised. He'd worry about it later. Much to his delight, the comm in his helmet was still working. He used it to try and reach Manning.

"Sgt. Manning are you there?" There was no response.

"Sgt. Manning, please report you position." The radio crackled in response.

"Ross, is that you?"

"It sure is Sergeant. Are you alright? Is Raines with you?"

"No, but he's watching our backs." Ross lifted his head and looked around by reflex. Raines was somewhere with a good view point, and that damn rifle he loved.

"Roger that Sergeant. Where are you?"

"Not far. Coming in from my landing zone, why?"

"You landing zone Sergeant?"

"Yeah. I'll explain it when I get back."

"Roger that." Ross let his head drop for a second, before heading back to the downed Falcon. They needed to know what kind of weaponry they had to work with. The inside of the Falcon was a mess of items that had come loose in the crash, including ammo and guns. They were lucky nothing got set off during the ordeal. The result could have been very messy, and painful. Crawling over the mess wasn't hard. Ross had been a construction worker before enlisting, and had moved through more dangerous cluttered terrain than a downed Falcon.

He joked a lot, and tried to make people laugh, even when he wasn't feeling the humor himself. The hell he and his squad, and scores of others had seen and been through during the war would never leave them. But if he could lighten the burden for them, it meant the difference in his mind. Ross had been right there, cracking homosexual jokes in Voi, when they were being bombarded with plasma fire and fuel rod cannon blasts. He had been in the middle of asking one of the Hunters for a date when Raines had ended it's life. If he said just one joke that rose spirits and kept them going, then it was worth it.

Inside _The River Tam_'s wrecked cabins was an array of goodies Ross didn't even know they were carrying. He found an abundance of SMG's and ammo, SPNKR ammo and a launcher, and dozens of frag grenades. He picked up a case holding another standard issue sniper rifle, but frowned when he looked over the gun. The barrel was cracked and the scope was trashed. So much for a protective case. He tossed it in a pile and made a mental note to tell Raines. It might be able to be stripped for spare parts. Assault rifles, battle rifles, magnums, and spare rounds for all, were being piled outside. He opened another storage hatch and brought out a communications pack.

"Hey Coop, looky what I found."

Cooper turned around from helping Sgt. Bastogne. Seeing what the red head was holding made him grin, through it was hidden by his helmet.

"My baby. I'll finish up and see what we can get out off her."

It was getting considerably hotter outside, and the sun was high above them. The ODST's moved into the shadow of the rock out cropping for some respite. Ross was leaning happily up against a box of demolitions material and grenades with his helmet off, and a big grin adorning his face. He'd found what he wanted.

************************************************************************

Not long after he'd spoken to Ross over the comm, Sgt. Manning headed back to the crash site. He remembered getting ejected from the ship as it hurled towards the ground. The plating tore off the ceiling, and he was sucked out and dropped several miles from the crash site. He'd went to find Garcia, as she had never come back from fixing the pressure lock.

************************************************************************

Manning found her face down on the floor in a pool of blood. But before he could check her, the plating had detached and he went on his small flight. It was a miracle he hadn't hurt his back. That didn't mean he'd gotten up right away. He didn't know how long he'd been laying there. His head was in a haze, and he kept seeing memories, like they were playing silently on a reel. Him and his sister at a family gathering, sitting with his squad at a company BBQ, fighting in Voi…

However, it had to be the sounds of hoof beats that began to pull him out of the fuzzy haze of memories…. _Hoof beats? As in a friggin horse?_…

It wasn't entirely unbelievable. Some of Earth's fringe colonies still used horses and other animals due a shortage of technology. He tried to move, but his body protested and won. Panic struck him suddenly, and he wondered if he had hurt his spine. The sun was climbing high and making him sweat inside the black jumpsuit and plate armor. He wanted to pull his helmet off and get a breath of fresh air, but his arms wouldn't budge.

The hoof beats got closer, and he could pick out two separate rhythms.

"Daddy what is that?" Someone slid off the horse and hit the ground with a 'thud'.

"Looks like a man. Alliance maybe, though I ain't never seen them wearin nothing like that. I reckon he's from that crash we saw earlier." The guys feet moved closer till they were right at Manning's head. A smaller 'thump' told him the other one had dismounted the horse. He felt hands gripping his shoulder and turning him over. Sunlight filled his vision and he couldn't help but groan.

"Looks like he's alive." The mans hands began feeling around the base of Manning's helmet. He could hear the guy mutter something about getting a better look at him.

"On the left and right, there's two buttons to pop the seal." Manning's voice was cracked and strained. The extra effort on his chest hurt.

The guy did what he was told, and there was a _hiss_ when the seals released. He felt the helmet being pulled away gently. The sun light got even brighter now, and he was able to finally force his arm up to block it out.

"Who are you?"

The silhouette of the man was the only thing Manning could make out, and he watched him cross his arms and laugh. "Could ask you the same thing, laying out here in the middle of the ruttin desert. Looks like you got humped bad boy."

Manning was still squinting to see anything. "My ship crashed somewhere near here. I was thrown from it."

"Well then I reckon you're lucky to be alive. Can you move some more?"

"I think so."

"Then let me help you up." The guy offered out his hand. Manning took it. He heaved up the ODST with some considerable effort. The plate armor was _not_ light.

His muscles protested badly, and he was sore all over, but much to his delight, it didn't seem like he had any spinal problems. The Doc would still need to check him out. Now that he was standing up, he could look the man right in the face. It wasn't hard, because Manning stood 6 feet tall.

"Now I'm thinking you ain't from around here son." The guy who had found him was roughly the same height, with a stubbly beard, sun weathered face, and was wearing a cowboy hat.

Manning looked around at his surroundings. "I'm thinking the same thing Sir." He glanced back at the guy and held out his hand. "My name is Sgt. Manning."

The guy looked him up and down before taking the Sgt.'s hand. "Mitchell Jennings, and this is my son, David. Welcome to Lilac." Only a few moments after that, Manning heard his comm inside the helmet going off. He reached down and picked it up, recognizing the voice of Raines.

"Read you loud and clear Raines."

"Good to know you're still alive Sergeant, and that the comm works. I can see you." He looked around again, and so did Jennings and his son. The comm was on loud speaker.

"I'm not going to even ask where you are, and I damn sure am not going to try to find you with my own eyes."

Raines chuckled over the comm.

"But I will ask you how the crew is doing. How bad was the crash?"

"Few steps above horrific. Doesn't look like anyone's dead. Can't find the co-pilot though."

"We'll talk about that later. I'm heading back now. Gimme some direction?"

"Due west Sergeant. Big rock outcropping."

Jennings spoke up. "I can take you there if you need. Ain't all that far or nothing."

Manning shook his head.

"Roger that Raines. I'll be there soon. "

They started walking west, with Jennings leading the way. David kept looking at him curiously, and did not try to hide it. This didn't mean Manning escaped questioning though.

"So Sergeant, what's UNSC mean?" He was referring to the insignia on his armor.

"United Nations Space Command."

"Uh huh. Are you a branch of the Alliance?

"Never heard of it, so I'm going to have to say no."

"Huh. I might reckon that's a good answer."

He put his helmet back on. Only a few moments later, Ross reached him.

************************************************************************

Tatsuo and Cooper worked together to link the comm pack to _The River Tam_'s communication systems. The AI tried to hail the nearest UNSC cruiser, but there didn't seem to be one. However, they did have the coordinates of where they jumped into slip space. Cooper nearly jumped in excitement. This meant they could get back, given the proper tools, like a working ship and slip space engine…

A perimeter had been set up, and anyone injured any less than Thever took rotation on watch. Doc Leth had patched everyone up as best he could. He had discovered Thever had a collapsed lung, but didn't dare try to inflate it with out the proper tools. A choice would have to made soon though, because there was a risk of permanent damage.

Setting Bassik's arm had been ugly, but the guy was doped up on pain killers and giggled the whole way through it. Leth sutured and wrapped it, and put it in a splint. He took a look at Ross, and noticed him breathing shallowly.

"Hey man, what's wrong with you?"

Ross looked up at him like he was crazy. "What are talkin about? My scrotum? It still hurts if you wanna kiss it and make it better."

"AHhaHAHA, no you ass. How's your ribs?"

He sat up looking mortified. "Are you thinking about cannibalism already? What the fuck Doc, it hasn't even been a day."

"Ha. Shut up and take your chest plate off."

"You can't touch me, nothing gives you that right!"

Raines came in over the comm. " Nik, shut up. Sgt. Manning's on his into the perimeter. Looks like he's got company."

Ross grinned at hearing his first name, and put his helmet back on.

"Roger that Raines. Is it the good kind of company or the 'they're trying to eat his skin' kind of company?"

"The good kind."

Ross jumped up and yelled "Shizam! Manning's back."

Cooper crackled in. "Guys, I'm picking something up. Sounds like radio chatter, but not like anything I've ever heard."

This time Doc Leth answered. "Roger that Coop. We've just been told Sarge was found. We'll be in there in a bit."

"Copy that, over."

The perimeter guards were the first to spot him. The black armored figure wasn't hard to see in the sandy terrain. With him, were two people, with horses. When he was closer Ross stumbled down the slope and yelled "Mom's back!"

"If I wasn't glad to see you alive, I'd drop you to give me a hundred."

Jennings was staring at the wreck of the Falcon and whistled. "Never saw a ship looked like that before."

"Standard UNSC Falcon class drop and travel model." Ross remarked, like the man should have known.

"Mr. Jennings, this is one of my soldiers, Corporal Ross." They shook hands. It was obvious to the Sergeant that Ross was utterly confused by the man's manner of dress. He looked like a 1900's western cattle herder out of some historical movie. To Manning's relief, the corporal kept his mouth shut. They didn't know these people or this planet. The less said for now, the better.

"So sergeant, where were you and your men heading? How'd you get stuck here?"

"Long story." The man shook his head, but didn't ask anything else. They started walking up the slope, and Manning took a good look at what was in front of him. Chief Thever was propped against a rock, her arm in a splint, and a big bandage wrapped around her head. The other sergeant and one of his men stood guard not far from them, and Doc Leth was standing up from digging in his aid bag. The other three guys from Bastogne's squad were laid out in the shade, helmets off.

"Where's Cooper?"

"In the cockpit, or what's left of it. Him and Tatsuo are trying to get communications going."

"Good. What about the vehicles in the hold?"

"The two hogs are still functional and two of the four wheelers are still going strong."

"Well, seems like we might be needing them soon. The falcon doesn't look like it's going anywhere. Mr. Jennings, what's the local authority here?"

"A private security source funded by the Alliance."

He noticed the corporal turned his head to look at the stranger. It was another sentence he didn't understand completely. "Well, if you wouldn't mind waiting sir, if I have a little bit to debrief my men, I'll need a guide to the authorities. "

The guy looked around at all of them. Manning could see the suspicion in his face. None the less, he nodded his head and muttered, "All right then." The guy's kid wanted to run up to these strange looking men in armor and bombard them with questions. But one look from his father made him think twice.

Manning began moving toward the downed ship quickly, ignoring the stiffness in his bones. Ross kept pace beside. He explained quickly to the corporal about Garcia the co-pilot, and how Jennings had found him a ways out. Something was off about those people, and he didn't know shit about this Alliance that seemed to be the head government around here. The man's comment 'Welcome to Lilac' was slightly unsettling as well. To the sergeant, it insinuated that this was only one planet, and there might be others in this civilization, or what ever it should be called. The people spoke oddly, and dressed even worse. They didn't seem to mind the presence of high technology however, because the thought of a space ship just seemed to roll off their backs. The next question would be, how advanced were they exactly? He couldn't tell, considering they were using horses as transportation, but it would be stupid to assume them ignorant. He and his men didn't make through the hellish war by assuming things. So he would reveal as little as possible, and observe everything tiny detail.

Cooper came over the comm and said he and the AI were picking up signals on and off. It was a start. Manning went up to Doc Leth and asked for an account of all the injuries, and wanted to know how fast they could move and when.

"Everyone can still travel fine and fire at least one weapon sir. The only one almost completely out is Chief Thever. I think her lung is collapsed."

"Can you fix it?"

"That's a very large, and doubtful maybe Sarge."

"Then we need to find an actual doctor. No offense."

"None taken. I agree."

"Ross, fill the rest of them in. I need to see what Coopers got."

The two corporals nodded and turned away, while Manning continued for the Falcon. The heat was at it's worst now, and he removed the helmet when he walked inside. It was a mess, and awkward to get into the cockpit, but he made it. Cooper was inside, pecking away at the computer, and readjusting wires. Tatsuo was standing in his projector relying data verbally, and announced that Manning had arrived.

Cooper turned, and a look of honest relief crossed his face. He didn't stand at parade rest like he should have, but then again Manning never cared for that crap, especially if no brass was around.

"Good to see you alive Sarge. I didn't want to be praying for anyone's soul today, cept the rest of our squad as usual."

"Don't worry. Takes more than a crash to kill me, or any of us for that matter. Where do we stand Cooper? Can you hail and of our ships?"

"Sir, we can't even _find_ any of our ships. Tatsuo's kept us in stealth mode, so we don't pop up on anyone else's radar. I didn't think it was to smart to be stickin out like a sore thumb. Well, I've been picking up chatter from all different kinds people. Mostly civilian vessels. None of it sounds familiar. It's like we're in a whole other universe Sarge. They're talking funny, speaking some oriental language interchangeably. The more I hear, the more I get the feeling that some group called the Alliance is in charge of everything. This isn't the only planet in the system either. There's over a dozen others. "

Manning stood there with his arms crossed, not sure which course of action to take. All previous thoughts had been confirmed. He didn't like the situation they were in. Talking to the locals could get them some information, but also expose them to attentions they may not want. They needed to make contact with command, but he would not risk the lives of any of his men without good reason. Tatsuo's lighting went darker and he turned to look at Cooper.

"There seems to be some odd chatter over the radio system. Would you like me to patch it through?"

"Yes."

The ruined cockpit was filled with the sounds of radio static. The way they were speaking, made it sound as if they were going to defecate in their pants. Something had them scared bad. Men were talking in almost hushed tones about moving out of the area, keeping steady, and something called Reavers. Cooper particularly was interested when someone said, "They're headin at Lilac. Keep yerself out that orbit."

Some else said, "Give a call down to the settlers. Those people need a warning."

Cooper turned to Sgt. Manning and asked, "What do you make of it?"

"Dunno. Tatsuo, is there anyway to get a visual off their radio signals? I know that's newer technology and programming-"

"I am outfitted with the latest AI technology and programming available Sergeant. I am _the best_ the UNSC has to offer in smart AI's."

As if to prove his point, one of the screens activated and a black and white image popped up. It was brief, only lasting a few seconds, but the ship it showed chilled Manning to the core for some reason. The only word he could think to aptly describe it was 'savage', and he knew nothing about the ships from these people. What the hell was a Reaver? Was that ship a Reaver? It didn't sound very good either way.

"Up load it to my data pad. I think our local buddy down there should see it."

"As you wish Sergeant."

Before he got to comfy with the idea, Manning reached in his cargo pocket to check his data pad. He frowned deeply when he saw the cracked screen.

"On second thought is there a spare around here?"

"In the storage locker behind you Sergeant." Tatsuo said calmly. He retrieved the device and activated it.

"Good. Lets see what he has to say about this. Might answer a few questions." Manning put his helmet back on.

************************************************************************

Manning squinted when he walked back into the sun. Dust kicked up every time he walked. He made a line straight for Jennings, who was standing there with his son, eyeing the ODST's warily.

"Sir, I need to show you something." He set the short video on a loop and handed the data pad to Mr. Jennings. The guy took it and glanced at the screen. A reaction was almost instant. The pure fear that coated his face was disturbing, and shook the sergeant slightly.

"Reavers," The man whispered," My god they're here again."

Manning wanted to hit someone. He was tired of unanswered questions." What are they?"

But the man ignored his question, and jumped back on his horse. "They're gonna raid the town! I gotta warn them!"

"Papa, mama and Elizabeth are still there!"

The Sergeants temper was at a boiling point. "WAIT!" His voice carried such authority, it made the man and his son stop, and all the soldiers look at him.

"What is going on sir, if you would please tell me. We are not from here, and we may need some serious help."

Jennings spun his horse around, then fear and panic vivid in his features. "Them's Reavers coming. They'll kill the whole town, eat'n and raping alive, skinning them cloths. There'll be nothing left. Everyone caught there is humped!"

Doc Leth had walked up beside his sergeant, and asked, "Sir? You're orders?"

It was just like Leth to know his thoughts before he did. Ross got up from his seat of explosives, and the guys in Sgt. Bastogne's squad stood up, weapons in hand.

He hit his comm button. "Cooper?"

Cooper answered. "Already ahead of you Sarge. Got the hogs prepped. Ready to go on your call." Damn he had a great squad. He turned and walked towards the weapon layout, and grabbed his Assault rifle.

"All right listen up!" All attention was on him. " We're loading up the hogs. Might be some people that need help, and it's time to get your lazy asses moving around. I won't have you acting like a simple crash landing is anything bigger than an ant hill. Sgt. Bastogne, if you wouldn't mind, I'm going to borrow Lance Corporal Dawkins and Private Smith. Someone needs to stay here with Chief Thever, someone that's not all torn up."

The private with the compound fracture in his arm yelled in a voice that cracked from the painkillers, "Sorry Sarge!" Laughter rippled through the little group..

Bastogne nodded. "No problem Manning. You owe me one."

"Uh huh. I wants Raines here now. Got no idea where the sneaky bastard is."

As if on queue, Raines came gracefully jumping through the rock outcropping, rifle slung on his back.

"Damn monkey." Ross muttered. Raines landed right near him.

"It's called free running, ginger kid." he replied softly.

"All right people, get your asses in those Warthogs, NOW."

The bay door to the vehicles was opening. The men got up quick, shouldering their weapons. Manning forced Doc Leth over into the passenger seat, and Ross jumped into the turret. Dawkins leapt to drive the second, with Cooper in the passenger seat, and Smith in the gun. They peeled tire pulling out of the bay.

Jennings was already ahead on his horse, heading north west, and Raines plowed the mongoose down the ramp, and followed them.

It was an intimidating sight, men in black trooper armor moving in a pack. It certainly startled Jennings, when they pulled up beside him, moving as fast as his horse. They followed closely, making for the town as fast as possible. Adrenaline was pumping, and the men were ready for a fight. This is what they lived for, and had been doing for most of their lives. They had fought the hordes of the covenant, and lived. Nothing scared them.

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A/N : I'll try to have the next one up in about a week. Gotta see what my work load for school is. Hope you all enjoyed this one.


	5. Photographic Evidence & Vague Ramblings

Ok, I'm super sorry it's been so long since an update, but I've been horribly busy. I know that sounds like a bad cop-out, but between school work, family stuff, ACS, ODST being released, and trying to keep up with my house work, I've barely had time to write. However!!! - This chapter is ALOT longer than the others. It was 23 pages on the word processor, while the others have been about 13. ( Note: I played ODST through in 3 hours on normal, now working on getting my ass kicked in hard.)

Dark side of the Coin ~ your reveiws always make me smile, and give me huge confidence boosts! TY ever so much :D

tremerid~ Glad you liked it, and it had you laughing. Ross is deffinatly some of the comic relief. ( iam going to refrain from making him a complete dumbass, like so may people end up doing with similar characters. Overall I'm really glad you like my OC's, I try to avoid the basic cookie cutter ones people all to often fit into fanfic's. They're always tough, or super smart, or unbeatable, or can keep pace with the main hero, etc etc, blegh.

~ I've never had anything published, but I hope to one day. I have a lot of original fiction in my head, and some on paper. ( I often make my gaming group run through them when we get together, lol.) I'm stoked you're liking this alot, and I hoipe to keep it up.

I hope to continue imrpessing everyone. I never thought I would get reveiws this good, or that so many people would enjoy my story this much!

Again, I own nothing but the personalitys of my OC's.

Enjoy ! :D

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The Chief found the doorways short, and he had to duck every time he moved through one of them. He was used to buildings and objects not being suited for him though. Following the doctor down to the med bay, hw couldn't help but raise an eye brow at how small it was.

If the med bay was this small, he wondered about the size of the ship. The Captain had said it was a transport. Judging by the size of the crew, it couldn't be very big.

The doctor stopped by the door, and looked the Chief over once. "The status display on your cryo tube said your injuries are extensive. I'm not even sure how you're walking right now."

Chief, John, wasn't sure how to respond. He said the most logical answer that came to mind, " I've had worse."

The Doctor stared at him. "Oook. Um, You'll need to remove your armor, I think you have internal bleeding, and that could be fatal if we don-"

John was already ahead of him, and released the seals on his helmet. The pressurized _hiss_ lasted for a moment, before he pushed it off his head.

Simon was getting a look at something millions would have killed for, and that was rarely available. What was funny, was he didn't even realize how big it was, though it was obvious that he was intensely curious. He made no attempt to avert his eyes.

The face behind the gold visor was a surprisingly plain one, upon first glance. His skin was pale, (Simon suspected it was due to lack of sun exposure for long periods of time,) and his hair was a deep rich brown that highlighted the bright hazel eyes. His features were perfectly symmetrical, but marred by scars. A long white one ran off the corner of his mouth, and another from his hairline to his eyebrow. Dozens of other smaller ones were visible, but each and everyone looked as though they had been lessened with advanced medical technology. The expression he wore was rigid and stoic, but not cold surprisingly. The best word to describe it, was observant. It wasn't an unfriendly face, but one that you thought twice about approaching to fast. He efficiently and methodically began removing his armor, piece by piece.

John placed his helmet on the table in what appeared to be a common area right outside the medical bay. Then he worked on his arm plates, cautious of how he set them down. The materials they were made of were heavy, and easily damaged anything that wasn't as resilient as them.

Simon placed Cortana's holo pad down on a counter in the med bay. He'd retrieved it thinking the Master Chief, as she called him, might feel more comfortable with her near by. He could only imagine what it must be like to wake from cryo and only have one familiar face around you in an otherwise completely foreign environment.

John had the chest plate, and all the rest off. The black body suit was all that was left. He felt naked without the armor pieced together and his shields functioning, but could not deny his need for medical attention. The pain was so bad, it was causing his vision to blur now. He noticed the doctor patiently waiting, and pulled the gloves off. Though his training screamed to keep his guard up, something akin to instincts said he was safe for now. There was nothing in him that would deny, rest would be an extreme relief. Guilt however crept up at the thought of resting, when he didn't know the fate of the war, and everyone in it.

The Chief walked into the small medical room and sat where the doctor indicated. He was glad he took off the armor, other wise the exam table might have crumpled under his weight. Common sense made him begin to take off the upper half of the body suit.

The doctor was placing a dosage of clear liquid in what John recognized as an injection gun, though it was a different model than he was used to.

Simon could feel eyes on him, and had the distinct feeling he could easily be dead if this man wished it. It wasn't an uneasy feeling, or an annoyance like with Jayne, but an unspoken fact that demanded respect for his new patient. He was all too willing to give it. The doc was already aware of how incredibly fast this guy could be, even when extensively injured. He knew of only three people that even had a chance of being that quick. One had been Jubal Early, the bounty hunter that had tried to claim River for the federal reward. Second was the operative of the Parliament, who had disappeared after the Miranda incident. Mal had threatened to end him should they ever cross paths again. Third on the list was River herself, who was letting her talents shine more and more. He couldn't help but wonder what this man was capable of at his best.

Simon turned, and felt like his mind had been read. What looked like a black body suit actually came apart in two pieces, and the 'chief' had already taken the top off. The doctor felt himself cringe at the sight in front of his eyes.

The first eye catcher was the angry blistered skin on his neck, across the chest, and his arms. The burns were some of the most severe Simon had ever seen, and he was a rutting trauma surgeon. None of them appeared to be any worse than third degree, but the danger of an infection setting in was bad. Black and purple bruises bloomed across his collar bone on the right side, and were splotchy all the way down his arm. He wasn't even sure if there was a spot on this guys body where the skin was it's normal color, because the bruising and burns seemed to engulf him from the neck down. A large lump told the doctor where the arm fracture was.

With the armor off, Simon noticed he was having trouble breathing, only getting shallow respirations, and swelling was beginning in his midsection.

"Lay back please, I think your lung may be collapsed, and you may have internal bleeding."

_If that's it then I've had worse._ John thought to himself. But he did as the doc asked, even if it was a bit slower than he would have liked. He tried his best not to let the pain show on his face. Pain was the least of his worries, and should be the last thing on his mind.

The doctor walked over to him, a hint of what seemed like caution and curiosity in his body language. He checked Johns eyes and looked at his head quickly. He told the Chief he had suffered a severe concussion. An examination of Johns abdomen confirmed that there was internal bleeding.

"I'm going to have to dope you. I'm sure you know what internal bleeding will lead to. It's not anesthetic but we don't have access to proper medical facilities, and I don't think you can wait."

"Dope me with what?"

"An opioid drug. It will have you out in-"

"What drug?" John was persistent, and his voice as deep and mangled sounding as ever, even without the helmet.

"Dilaudid."

"Hydromophone? An analgesic that acts centrally and is often used instead of morphine. One of the strongest out there. Is that all you have?"

Simon stood straight up, astonished. Did he have medical training?" Uh, yeah. Supplies are limited when you're poor, and even more so out here on the Rim. "

"How much.?"

"1.5 milligrams."

"You may want to make it two to 2.5 doctor, if your goal is to render me unconscious."

Simon looked at him oddly for a split second. "A dosage that high could be dangerous."

John opened his mouth to speak, and hesitated for just a second. He was having sharp pains in his chest, and his head was starting to swim. As if on queue, Cortana materialized on the holopad. If she was human he might have considered hugging her. She had interrupted the verbal stumble caused by pain.

"Master Chief is not normal doctor. I told you in the bay he was a Spartan, and could take more physical punishment than regular people. This also means things like medications affect him differently. Up the dosage, or risk having him wake while you've got him cut open. I can't imagine what that would be like. "

"Not pleasant…" Simon said absent mindedly. He put a larger dose in the gun, and placed it at the man's neck, where the skin wasn't burned. There was a ping, and release of the chemical.

Medicine raced into his bloodstream, and he could feel it moving in him like oil oozing down a slope.

"Ok Master Chief, I'm goi-"

"Call me John for right now."

Cortana's mouth dropped open, and Simon shifted, uneasy about how to react. The seconds seemed to stretch on uncomfortably.

John wasn't sure why, but he had a good feeling about the doctor, and was just completely tired of hearing his rank uttered constantly, and used like his real name. Several decades is quite long enough. Even if this only endured for the time he was this mans patient, the brief respite would be most welcome.

He glanced at the doctor, sure the weariness was showing in his eyes. "My name is John." Repetition was not something he was fond of.

The Doctor was still as a statue, but fluttered his eyes between John and Cortana quickly. Calmly, he commented, " My name is Simon.."

John would have held up his hand, but the dilaudid was rapping his system and drifting him out of consciousness. Strength was sapped from his limbs, and they felt heavy and useless. Darkness clouded his vision, and finally forced him under, into sleep.

************************************************************************

Simon wasn't so sure how he should take in the last few moments. His extensive comprehension skills were jumbled about by the suddenness of what had just happened.

He was snapped out of it very quickly by Cortana's voice.

"Well that's something you certainly don't see everyday. "

Simon moved around, grabbing his instruments. "What's that?"

"He broke Military formality. That's doesn't happen often doctor." _Why he's never broken it with me, I'll never know. I've only always been there for him since I was programmed._

"I guess I should feel privileged then."

"You should."

Booted feet tromped down the stairs, announcing Zoe's presence. Softer, almost inaudible footsteps were the only clue to River's place directly behind her.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but the Captain wants to speak to Miss Cortana while her friend is indisposed."

Cortana pivoted to look at Zoe, and didn't even try to hide the expression on her avatar..

"I'll be staying right here until the Chief wakes up."

"I'm afraid that's non-negotiable ma'am. Captains orders, and he runs this ship."

Cortana crossed her arms, and wanted to tell this woman what she thought the Captain could do with his orders. John pushed his way back into her mind, and reluctantly she retracted the prepared response process. He was in more trouble medically than his demeanor had let on, and if she acted selfish and arrogant right now, it would do him more harm than good. These people were willing to help them, and so far had requested nothing in return. It was time for a computer program to count her blessings, and assess her recent thought strains and coding. A bit of humility would not kill her, she hoped.

"I guess there's not much to discuss then. I want to be brought back here when we have finished what ever business he wants to discuss."

"Of course," Zoe muttered, as if the computer should have know better. River stepped around the older woman's frame and moved to grab Cortana's holopad. She looked at the unconscious form of the man on the table, and muttered something in Chinese about the general with no soldiers. Naturally, no one had a clue what the meaning was.

The AI had the urge to look over her shoulder at her Spartan when the teenager carried her out of the room. How had two of the most important members of the UNSC end up on some obscure junker, among crew than couldn't hold a candle to them, or any other of their comrades . The Chief was once the restricted patient of hand selected doctors, and privileged to the best medical care anywhere. Now, he was having to settle for some MD of unknown skill or talent with half rate equipment and no supporting surgical or medical staff.

"Why are you glowing red?" The girl inquired.

"Huh?"

"Your color went from bluish purple to red. Why?"

_Shit. Keep yourself in check!_ " Oh, running some statistics."

************************************************************************

"Glad you're here Zoe. As long as you're gathering information for the Captain, you can assist me."

The first mate of the ship looked at him, and smirked ever so slightly. The Doctor had learned a lot since he first boarded the ship, looking horribly out of place on Persephone. Just when the rest of the crew thought he'd never catch on, he'd surprise them again and again.

"What does Mal want to know?"

"Everything you do."

"Then scrub up. You can learn with me, and relay the details." There was a glimmer of sarcasm in his voice. Simon understood the motivation behind Mal's intentions. However, something in him decided to keep John's name to himself for now. If John wanted anyone else to call him anything outside if his military rank, he would be the one to say so. One could chalk it up to doctor/ patient confidentiality.

He prepped the machines sitting above the bed. First order of business was to cauterize the internal bleeding…..

************************************************************************

Mal sat in the co-pilots seat, jaw jacking with Wash about whether the current string of events was amusing or not.

"I'm sorry Mal, this stuff just seems to happen to us, with good reason."

"Good reason?" The tone in Mal's voice was incredulous.

"We took on River and Simon, and look what we exposed in the way of Alliance secrets. She's also saved our behinds several times!"

"At the cost of how many lives? Book? Haven? Almost losing you?"

Wash shook his head slightly. "Shit's gonna happen Mal, whether you want it to or not. Book and the Haven settlers knew the kind of business we were in, and the possibilities that could occur. It's not like they didn't risk their own fates, going against the corporations constantly for the mining rights on that dusty little moon. Damn good of them to stand their ground constantly might I add. History is full of events that happened because people took chances, good or bad. "

"I don't wanna take chances with the lives of my crew. Any time any of you were in danger, it's was by your own gorram choice."

Wash held up his hand. " I get that Mal, we all do. You think I don't know what can happen to me, being the pilot of a ship running these kinds of jobs? Being part of _Serenity_'s crew comes with risks. You don't sign up, or stay if you can't handle that. I for one stay because, because the love of my life is here, and I know that despite some of the things we've pulled, no one on this ship is a bad person. Cept for Jayne, but, we won't talk about that."

"I don't like it Wash. I shoulda set those two back on their little wrecked boat, gave a big ol heart felt wave, and been done with it. Shoulda with Saffron, and might shoulda with the Doc and his sister at the time."

Wash leaned forward in the pilots chair. "But you didn't Mal. That's what sets you apart from the rest of the junk floatin around the border and rim worlds. That's why you inspire that insane loyalty in all of us. That's why we _stay_. _Serenity_ is our home, and you're her captain. Can't have one with out the other. "

"You get any mushier with me I'm liable to smooch on you Wash."

"I'd be forced to stand up for my self, and go hide behind my wife Sir."

Glancing movement to his left that was wearing a red sweater and white skirt, Mal nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw River silently glide up, holding the black form of Cortana's holopad. He wasn't sure how he had not seen her, till the revelation of her bare feet dawned on him. She was silent like a damn cat.

"It's the blue lady's time to talk again." The scrawny girl put the device up on Wash's controls, and dropped into a little sitting position.

Cortana's avatar materialized on the pad again. She looked around the bridge.

"Kinda small in here, I get the feeling this isn't a big ship."

"She's big enough," Mal responded defensively.

"I'll take your word for it. Now Captain, what was so important it couldn't wait until the Chief was seen to?"

"Does a pretty lil list really need to be laid out for ya? The two of you just come out of no where, sellin some kinda wild story and 'spect everyone to just jump on yer command? I'll make it abundantly clear to you, so there's no confusion in the future : This is my ship, I have complete and total command over everything that happens on it."

Wash snorted into his fist.

Mal ignored him. " This is not your UNSC, and your rank and titles mean diddly squat to me. I took a huge risk bring you two aboard. Likely to get me all kindsa unwanted affection from dubious admirers. So when I ask a question, I will get answer."

She almost said _Or?_. What she hadn't told anyone, not even John yet, was that she had managed to get into _Serenity_'s computer systems through the wireless connections. It had taken some time, about ten minutes, but after reconfiguring some programs it was all possible. If they so much as showed an glimmer of ill will towards John, she would shut their ship down, or worse. For now though, it seemed the best course of action would be to go along with the Captains wishes. She would be watching everything. She _was_ the ship now.

"You understand?"

Cortana looked at him innocently. "Of course Captain Reynolds. Don't forget, I'm programmed to follow certain protocols, pertaining to classified information. Some things I just simply cannot reveal."

"That's understandable. I might be able to look past that."

"Also, Master Chief may not be willing to speak to you on much."

"Now that I can't look past."

Cortana's avatar looked exasperated. " He's a career soldier. You will never get a syllable of information that could be classified out of him. Spartans cannot be threatened either, just to cover another pointless avenue of conversation."

"My patience might just wear thin with your avenues of pointless conversation. Won't be tolerat'in any of that _luh suh _outta him neither."

"She's sick!"

Mal jerked his eyes down at River and her sudden outburst. "What?" Three voices said at once.

"Virus strings wrapping the spine. Temper tantrum prone child that knows to much. Gorging data. Tainted home. The lion with the thorn in his paw is our friend. Pull the thorn for gratitude."

Mal looked over at Wash. "Get any of that?"

"No, but I think I hurt my brain trying."

_This girl knows I'm in the system. Does she have a neural implant like the Spartans?_

"Always nice to hear River's view on things. Keeps things interesting." Mal joked. He'd caught the flicker in Cortana's demeanor. Rivers rhyme had been about the AI. But, the talking computer didn't need to know what he was thinking. Over the time the brother and sister had been with them, Mal had learned to pay very close attention to what River said, especially in odd situations and or jobs. It had saved their asses more than a few times.

"Back on track," Wash said," What about this war you guys were fighting? Who is the Covenant?"

"That, is a question I can answer. It is an organization of alien species allied and on a holy pilgrimage. The great journey. Their leaders, the prophets, have called for the end of mankind 'heretics'."

"Now that's something I'm just having a hard time grasping. I don't tend to take others words for gospel, specially not folk I pulled off a derelict rig tryin to sell me _go se_ about aliens."

"That's unfortunate Captain. I speak only truth." _Ha_.

"People can speak all matter of words they see fit. Don't mean it's fact."

"What about if I show you fact?"

"Really now?" Mal was still skeptical, but interested.

"Really. It'll take some wire work. Got a screen?"

"I do indeed." Mal swerved around at Wash., "Get Kaylee up here."

Wash pressed the ship com and called into it," Kaylee, the Captain needs you to wire something. He doesn't wanna get electrocuted again."

"Heyyy."

"Sorry sir. The urge was irresistible, what with the memory of your face the last time, popping up in my mind."

"You wipe that memory right now hear me?"

River giggled. Mal stood up and looked over the control panel.

"I didn't ask for the input of the peanut gallery!"

Cortana cracked a smile. River looked up at him with her big eyes, and said. " This one does not like legumes. The fallacious planet tastes funny."

The Captain wrinkled his brow, in the all to common expression that usually followed anything River said. Kaylee walked in with a smile on her grease smeared face.

"The Cap'n trying to rewire something again? You didn't let him did you?"

"I'm standing right here!"

"Oh I know. I see you Captain. You didn't touch anything did you?"

"What the- What is with all of you? I made one mistake! One!"

Jayne popped his head. "He's not rewiring again is he?"

Mal threw his hands up. "A crew is supposed to adore, respect and fear their Captain!"

Jayne snorted, and disappeared chuckling. Kaylee planted a kiss on his cheek and said, "I love my Captain. He's a nice man that looks out for us."

"I am not. Don't you ever accuse me of that. "

"Sir, no one will ever mistake you for something fluffy and cuddly, to your face."

"Shut up Wash." The pilot chuckled to himself, and continued to tend to the controls.

"Kaylee, you think you can find a way to hook Miss Cortana up to one of these monitors? She's got something she wants to show us."

"Sure thing Cap'n. Just need to look at what kinda set up she's got. Don't think I've ever handled anything that advanced."

"I'll help you out Kaylee." Cortana chimed in. Her avatar glowed a warm purple. The cheerful mechanic had grown on her. This would also be an opportunity to learn more about this strange system. The pilot, 'Wash', seemed friendly enough. He was talkative if you picked the right topic. She would talk to these two, and work on configuring her programs to enter the system called the 'Cortex'. It seemed like a network of wireless signals and databanks. A wealth of information was just a few configurations away.

"Well that's just shiney." Mal muttered. He slipped out the door, and headed to the cargo bay area. His stomach felt weird when he laid eyes on Inara's shuttle. There was still a lot left unspoken between them.

She had stayed with _Serenity_ for a little while after Miranda, before going back to the training house. It was only recently she'd come back. When he'd asked for an explanation, she had said she was 'land sick' and needed to travel for a bit. She paid him rent in exchange, as before. It wasn't like he'd of told her no any how.

Mal wasn't sure what to make of any of it. It was plain as day they had feelings for one another. But he was unwilling to compromise with his line of work or his beliefs on hers. At the same time, Inara was unwilling to give up her career for anything. It had put considerable strain on them to say the least. They barely spoke, and when they did, the conversations were brief, and to the point. Every time he walked towards those doors to speak with her, he was ready to see if they would get anywhere, eager even. However, his emotions and stomach would do a 180 turn once inside, and all he would want to do is retreat to his bunk. What was it about her that got him all turned up in knots?

He felt he owed her an explanation about what was going on. Why he felt this way, was beyond all his comprehension. The way he ran things on his boat was totally up to him, and no one had the room or the authority to tell him otherwise. Still, he had the nagging suspicion that things were going to get even more interesting in the near future. It might be only fair that he warned her, incase she wanted to be left on a planet like Persephone. Waitin out till the drama was done might not be a bad idea. Sounded appealing enough to him.

It felt like he'd been standing outside her door for hours, and it was time to make his feet move forward. They were heavy, and Mal wanted to turn around and walk back to the bridge. Bravely, a hand reached up and knocked on the door. Inara's sing song voice said " _Shi?_"

"It's me." He wasn't normally inclined to wait for her permission. But his feet remained planted to the floor until she said ." Come in."

The inside of her shuttle was lush and luxurious as always, and she sat at the cortex terminal. When she turned her head, and slight look of surprise graced her features. She didn't think it was him at the door. "What is it Mal?"

The smell of incense invaded his nose, and made the atmosphere more oppressive, instead of relaxing.

"Um, figured we might have a talk bout whats going on as of late."

"Now you want to explain it to me?" She hadn't turned completely from the cortex yet.

"Didn't know what was goin on yet. Still don't, but I'm not as much in the dark as was before. Wanted to come let you know, case things go south. Weird goings on that I don't right get yet."

"Did you interrogate that injured man yet? Have Jayne make him talk?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm. It told Mal she thought the situation could have been handled differently.

"Hmph, acted fine to me, an im not carin what the docs little read out said. He pointed a gun at me!"

" Wouldn't you if you woke up in a strange enviorment surrounded by_ this _crew?And clearly your eyes lack the proper training. That man was severely injured. His foot was broken, and he was breathing shallowly-"

"And I'd like to be knowin why they school little whor-"

"_Chiu se._"

"Really now? That's didn't take you long."

Inara swiveled around, the look in her eyes dark. "It didn't take you long to go straight to the whores remarks did it?"

"Well technically I never made no remark bout whores, seein as you cut me off all quick like."

She rung her hands in frustration. "What do you want Mal?"

He hung his head and stared at the floor for a moment. "Your thoughts on the situation."

Inara blinked, taken aback. Was he serious? Captain Malcolm Reynolds coming to her for advice and opinions? She was tempted to comm Kaylee to see if the ship were about to explode.

"You're serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking an full up on sugar and love Inara?"

He watched her expression soften. It was so slight, and inconspicuous that no one that didn't know her would have picked up on it. It gave him a little bit of hope. She moved from her seat at the cortex terminal to the couch and motioned for him to join her.

Mal looked at her, then to the terminal, then to her again. Instead of walking towards the couch and the beautiful woman sitting on it, he moved into the cockpit of the shuttle.

Before she could inquire as to what he was up to, the power in the shuttle shut off. The only light came from lit candles.

"What are you doing?"

He came back out of the curtains, and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't want anyone listening."

She glanced around. "Who's going to hear anything? Just make sure the door's closed." She said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"It's not human ears I'm concerned about."

Inara furrowed her brow. The energy in the room was tense, and foreboding. Something was wrong. "Mal, whats going on?"

He looked up at her.

************************************************************************

Simons incessant nagging for new medical equipment had paid off, only it wasn't a member of _Serenity_'s crew it was being used on first. The supplies and equipment that had previously graced the very modest sick bay were rudimentary and almost completely outdated.

As of recently Mal and taken up a deal with Simon to treat people when they could for extra cash on the back water planets. The residents would trade them food or fuel or what ever was useful that they could dredge up. Against Jayne's suggestions of extortion, Simon made sure to be fair. Usually the folk had their own supplies, but no one who knew how to use them. A basket of fresh corn or greens, or even apples was more than enough for trade, and got the crews mouths watering in the process.

He was curious as to whether or not Mal would want something out of this man. His mind didn't think so low of his Captain however.

Zoe's help had sped up the process. The extent of this guys injuries still baffled the Doctor. John should be dead, by all accounts. There was no doubt in Simon's mind he was a good soldier, but every person had their limit. First he had to go in and fix the spleen immediately. Internal bleeding meant death if it was left unattended. Second was the collapsed lung. How the _Guai_ someone could walk with a collapsed lung, as if there was nothing wrong…

What was plain as day to Simon, was that multiple major surgeries had been performed on this man over a long period of time. He found evidence of augmentation and implants on the scans he ran. There was light scar tissue on the bones, and several major organs and glands.

When he voiced the discoveries to Zoe, she wanted to know more.

"So this guy was operated on numerous times, for the purpose of physical and possibly mental enhancement?"

Simon looked away from the screens, and started tending to the severe burns.

"That's what I'm seeing so far. I'd need to run more tests to know everything. But the way I'm seeing it, someone medically made themselves a super soldier." His voice went darker this time, as the topic struck home for him. Thoughts on River and the academy brought a simmering cold rage back to the surface of his mind.

"I'm going to have to tell the Captain."

"I don't see why this information would be useful, or even relevant." He felt like he was betraying John somehow, which was absurd. He'd barely said a full paragraph to the guy, and had gotten even less in return. But he felt that the revelation of the mans real name was big, he just didn't know how yet.

"Doesn't matter how you see it Doc. Captains orders. He wants all the information he can get his hands on."

Simon leveled his eyes at her. "I don't need to be reminded Zoe. That doesn't mean I can't gripe when he's not around, in some form or fashion." She grinned.

"You and your sister have picked a few things up."

"Oh my mother and father would be proud."

In her head, Zoe laughed at the Doctors dry humor. She would never deny the respect she had for him, after what he did for River. That took courage most don't have in them.

The her thoughts focused on the man laying in front of her. The guy screamed career military. It oozed off him the same way it did her. If her knowledge on the ranking system was similar to where ever he was from, this guy held high rank, and was important. Navy most likely. He had a handsome, hardened face. The glare he gave must be intense and intimidating. The guy was built like a soldier too, and the tallest man she'd ever seen. He made Jayne look small, and that was no easy feat.

He was easily built of solid muscle, and would more than likely be the kind of person you wanted on your side in a fight.

She'd sized him up, and so far, didn't have a bad feeling. Other than the fact he had pointed a gun at Mal, she'd taken no issue. Something had the Captain thinking in over drive, but she really didn't think it was this guy. Well, maybe it wasn't him right now. A lot would depend on the information Cortana revealed to them, and what this guy did when he woke up. She'd never admit it, but he was someone Zoe just might not want to engage in a fire fight with. Simon cut her thoughts off when he asked her to dig out the splints. This guy had more than a few broken bones.

************************************************************************

"So I'm thinking it might be a good idea for you to stay on Persephone a bit. Might be some imminent peril comin down on us. Gives you some nice time to play with for entertainin some clientele."

Inara blew out a frustrated, burdened breath. "Mal, I'm not leaving you. You don't know anything will even happen."

"Please, just think about it. Them as need to get paid, like us common indecent folk, did a bang up job today. Good scratch was got, an it be burning a hole in my pocket. We still gotta bushwhack Karyn with all manner of pretties we got onboard, and pay a visit to a rather discreet fence. You got a peck of time to mule it over."

"And what are you going to do about your guest?"

Mal paused on the way out the door and looked back at her. "Don't rightly know yet."

When he had gone, Inara went back to the cockpit and turned the power on. Everything he'd said to her, his thoughts, feelings, and concerns sunk deep into her. She couldn't help but pray he made the right decisions, from his head and his heart.

************************************************************************

Mal wasn't far from Inara's door when Kaylee came looking for him. It had apparently been longer than he'd thought. She gleefully told him that once she understood the wiring inside the holopad, jury rigging it had been a piece of cake. She wasn't ashamed to say, she took some extra time to study the make up of the electronic device, and how it worked. Mal smiled at the cheerful mechanic, and asked what she'd learned.

"Oh Cap'n, this is more advanced than anything I've ever seen. Better than Alliance."

"Really now?"

"Blows that purple belly crap right out the waters. Condensed crystal chip memory systems, accelerated processing-"

"Kaylee, Captain dummy talk please."

"Shiny stuff that cleans house on anything those _Gou cao de Nien Mohn_ could dream up. I wouldn't as had a clue to my way round it all without miss Cortana."

"Good girl. Nice language too. You been round Jayne to long."

On the bridge, Wash was regaling Cortana with his tale of actually pulling off a Crazy Ivan. After getting him to explain the maneuver in full detail, including the mechanical facts, she became curious about these 'Reavers'.

"Well, they're psychotic cannibals that raid the settlements in the Rim Worlds, killing, raping, torturing and eating anyone they come across. They attack ships too. Pull'em right outta space and rip'em to pieces."

"Planets like Lilac?" She inquired. Wash looked at her confused, his big eyes bordering buggy. It was very comical.

"I've infiltrated the cortex's wireless signal, and I've been reviewing basic information for your world for about thirty minutes now.

"Uhh, yeah. I know they had an attack there just a year ago. Reavers are pushing out further every year."

"And makin my sky get awful crowded." Mal interjected. He walked through the port door with his thumbs in his belt loops, and looked at Wash. "Didn't we have this exact conversation before?"

"Well not exact. Last time there was wine, and little cookies with sprinkles." Wash leaned his head over the back of the pilots chair, batting his eyes and speaking in sickeningly sweet tones.

"Blink those eyes again and I'm liable to club you."

"Oh second dates are magical. Can I wear a pretty dress?"

Mal raised an eyebrow at him. "Anyway, movin right along, You got some evidence to show me miss, of little green men and such.'

Cortana flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I wouldn't call them little or green. Well, the grunts are small and purple… "

The monitor behind her lit up with white static. Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it.

"Ooooo, static. That's nothing new."

Mal hadn't even noticed Jayne behind him until the smartass remark was made.

"Oh Jayne, you can go back to playing with your toys. This footage might not be suitable for children." Kaylee said sweetly. He made a face at her.

There was no slow, or silent introduction. Cortana began showing them footage right from the heat of battle. A grenade went off, and filled the screen with light. She watched the Captain suddenly tense up, and a curious look come over his face. It was hard, and stoic, but spoke volumes about him in an instant. He had seen battle before. Malcolm Reynolds was a veteran of some kind.

The screen cleared, and green armored soldiers fired their guns into the smoke. Dark shapes formed in it, and there was a roar. Something leapt through the wall of smoke, holding an iridescent, glowing dual pronged weapon. It thrust the tip of the weapon into the first man's chest.

Mal took a step forward, and decidedly did not believe his eyes. The thing had four mandibles on it's face, and a rounded off dome head. It was **not** human.

"_Wo De Tian A!"_

"What in the ruttin name of-"

"That's not human!"

"How is that even possible?"

"Holy journey a lie, gone bust like balloons…"River said, watching the screen.

Cortana said nothing, but was genuinely convinced these people had never seen an alien before. She watched the Elite on screen slice the Marines apart. The footage was from a dead soldiers helmet HUD.

The line of Covenant grew. Grunts and Jackals with their sheilds, and more Elites in different colored armor. Their weapons did damage like nothing Mal had ever seen before. Jayne was drooling at the effect of the plasma rifles.

Before the line could go further, more green armored soldiers, identified by someone off screen as 'Marines', flooded the battle zone. War cry's and screams were so thick, you could almost cut through them with a knife. The battle was a bloodbath. Everything the plasma touched was horribly scorched.

White static again, and Mal saw purple colored vehicles being blown out of the sky by tanks. Large rounded off violet cruisers pouring white hot plasma onto a planet.

"Reach." Cortana said softly.

Black pods flying down to the earth at break neck speeds. Fast forward to their landing, when black armored men in face concealing helmets burst out of the doors, the letters ODST emblazoned on their chests under to the UNSC symbol.

"Wait, what the crap are they? Spartans? Like the guy we got down stairs?" Jayne asked.

"No," Cortana answered," _They_ are ODST's."

Mal looked at her." And that stands for?"

"Orbital Drop Shock Troops. You don't get much tougher than those guys, except for the Spartans. All volunteer, and the best of the best."

"They fall though atmo in those tiny little pods?" Kaylee asked, in awe, and just a little shock."

"The hell with that. Gorram death wish." Jayne muttered.

She made sure they saw the devastation of a glassed planet, the billions dead in an instant. They needed to see this. Maybe then they would appreciate things a little more. Show more respect for her Spartan. _What? What the hell is wrong with you?_

Kaylee covered her mouth, and it was almost certain tears were welling up in her eyes. They got to see Harvest, Soma, Kaynor, Reach, New Mombassa. She did not spare them the horror. The only thing she held back was classified information.

Lastly, she showed them footage taken directly from the Master Chiefs HUD camera. It was from the fight in Africa. A Brute gripped a Marine by his neck, and was pulling the man's limbs off, one at a time….while he was living. Chief shot once with the sniper rifle to end the man's pain, and a second time to end the Brutes life.

Kaylee looked away. The expression on Mal's face was a mix of horror and disbelief. Wash was disturbed. Jayne gawked.

Another brute charged the line, and the gun was out of bullets.

They looked on, breath caught in chest, as who ever was behind the camera pulled a combat knife, and charged right back. At the last minute the view flipped, going airborn, till the angle was apparently on the monsters shoulders. The knife was brought down hard, directly into it's skull. The thing thrashed violently, and the knife came down again, and again, on the skull, face, neck…. Blood was everywhere by the time the beast fell to the ground.

Marines stood around, looks of mild surprise adorning their faces, and maybe just a bit of admiration. The fallen soldiers gun was picked up, and the person behind the camera moved on.

At that, the screen went blank, and Cortana cut off the footage.

Mal, was at a loss for words. He had wanted to know whether or not they were telling the truth, and now he knew. He rotated to look behind him, at his crew, and noticed Zoe had joined them at one point. Her face was cold and stoic, and she was thinking hard.

The hands of the guy from the last bit of footage looked familiar to her, and she spoke up. Her voice was even and dark." Who's person did that video come from?"

Cortana glowed a bright indigo. "The man you have unconscious in your medical bay."

************************************************************************

After what felt like forever, Simon had finally finished trying to fix someone that was so severely physically broken. It did beat trying to fix a mentally broken human for once.

He couldn't help but think that there was so much more to this man than any of them knew. One could only fathom exactly what was done to him with all those augmentations and surgeries.

Zoe had left some time ago, and he said he'd clean up, and make sure there was a bunk ready. This guy would eventually need to sleep some where else. John had been under for some hours now, and should likely be out a little while longer.

He spotted a very brief, shock of white out of the corner of his eye. If he wasn't mistaken, it was his sister. Placing the tools in hand down, he moved towards the door way.

"River?"

She was there, crouching close to the ground, and holding John's helmet in her hands while staring into the gold visor.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't touch other peoples things-"

"It's like watching a movie."

"Huh?"

"I can see everything. So many deaths. Violent, swift, flowing like a stream of water from this."

"Are you talking about former owners of that helmet?"

She turned to look at him, and didn't bother to brush away the strands of hair in her face."

"Committed by the hands that placed it on his head. Like snuffing a flame with his fingers. Herald of destruction for all the unkind. They called him Demon, he is not."

"Uh huh….. Well, I'll figure out exactly what you mean in a minute. Lets move over here and put the man's equipment down."

She stood up, and maneuvered away from his hands but was still clutching the helmet. She thrust it up at her brother, facing front.

"Simon can't you see them? Hear them? Evangelical chorus of death bidden souls, ended at the hands of the one the old kind call Reclaimer! They scream out in anger! _Ching Soh! _The fallen _Zhan Shi_ rise up in defense! Silent battle in the void."

"Ok, you might need to take a dose of your medication."

"I need no rutting pills! They speak to me with a gospel of praise, I am struck with the force of their will, demands for quarter and support! Don't you feel it? So much agony and emptiness for the benefit of masses. Masses of unwitting greedy salivating ignorant fools. Ungrateful pigs. Fallacious fate. Gorram the mental offspring!"

"Shhh, River calm down. Put down-"

"John doesn't want it. He'll never say it, but he doesn't want it. Losing purpose, black tunnels and labs. The gift of life now needs meaning." She wasn't loud, or hysterical, but her voice was full of energy, almost as if she had some kind of grip on what was entering her brain.

Simon was hesitant. Maybe he should try not to give her meds for now. She smiled and looked into the face of the helmet again.

"Blessed are those in the presence of the angel. We should be happy. It's a mutual need." Then, as quickly as she had picked it up, she put it back down.

"Are you ok?" He was so concerned about his sister constantly. The care was unwavering, to the point Simon had neglected his own life to the greatest heights. This last year he'd been able to build a relationship with Kaylee. It was one of the biggest sources of joy for the doctor.

"I'm fine _Ghun_. Brain still all a twitter, leaking thoughts randomly, but this one is happy."

He smiled, and hugged her.

"He woke up."

"Huh?"

"Mending fast. The Captains about to mess with something again. I have to go save the comm system."

Barefoot and silent, River glided off towards the bridge. Behind him, Simon heard movement. Much to his surprise, his patient had moved into a sitting position, and was inspecting his work. He face went a little red, wondering if the guy had heard any of Rivers ramblings.

"My god, were the drugs past date? How are you awake?"

John however, was unalarmed. His expression almost asked the Doctor what he was so worked up about, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary. Part of him wanted to continue watching the smaller, skinnier man twitch in unnecessary worry. But that wasn't professional, and he rarely jested with anyone, usually only peers.

"My metabolism processes chemicals faster than normal. This is why I told you to use a higher dosage."

"Regardless you shouldn't be moving right now-"

"It's never smart to have your only OR table taken up." John looked down at the IV line in his arm, and pulled it out.

"C'mon now, You seriously need to be down for at least a few more hours before you can get up and move around."

John fixed him with a look that was a mix of exasperation and amusement. Simon was taken aback just slightly at the intensity of the look, and the expression in it. Maybe because his face was constantly devoid of emotion, the moment traces showed of it up, it stood out.

"Where's Cortana?"

"On the bridge with the Captain still, I'd assume. Now will you lay back down?"

"I'll make you a deal Doc- Simon."

_He remembered my name._ The Doc looked up at him and replied sarcastically, " Really? And what would that be?"

"I'll humor you. If you have somewhere else for me, I'll sleep there. Otherwise, I'm putting my armor back on, and pulling up some floor." The casual tone in his voice surprised John.

Simon sighed, clearly frustrated. "Fine, there's a bunk available down that hall. Third one." He wasn't stupid. If John wanted to do something, Simon doubted anyone could realistically stop him." You should rest for at least a day."

The Chief glanced at him, and raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. The doctor was pushing it, but he was in a compliant mood. He needed the rest anyway. When his body recovered he could work on finding a way back to Earth, and the UNSC. He pulled the rest of the leads for the medical equipment off, and inspected the bandages on his body. The place on his clavicle that had been throbbing with horrible pain was now swollen, and had several small marks from what appeared to be incisions. It appeared these people had bone knitters. His foot was in some kind of small, boot like splint. One was also adorning his right forearm. From the looks of things, this doctor knew his trade.

Slowly, he eased off the table, aches and pains making their presence known. His limbs were stiff, and protested any movement. The Chief did his best not to let it show, and forced his arms to replace the upper half of the body suit.

Breaking the silence, the comm crackled with Rivers voice.

"Simon, I need your help with something."

Simon looked back at John and said, "Excuse me. I'll be right back."

The Doctor left the room, and felt the Spartans eyes on his back.

Chief gave his surroundings another glance. He knew he was being overly cautious, and if these people had wanted trouble it would have happened already.

Walking was painful, and he still had a slight limp from his broken foot. The armor pieces were still placed neatly in the little common area. He grabbed his helmet off the table, and walked down to where Simon had said the spare bunk was.

The small door was a sliding one, and he looked into the small sparse room. The bed was incredibly inviting, despite the fact that it would probably be a tad small for him. He sat his helmet down by the head of the bed, and went back for the other pieces.

The going was slow, and the sections of MJOLNIR armor were heavy. Were it not for his enhanced strength, Jon would not have been able to lift them. The remnants of the drugs in his system wasn't much of a boost either.

It was years after the augmentation surgeries that he actually realized how much stronger he and the other Spartans were from others. Each of them had killed several trainers over the course of time.

Thoughts of them, his family, flooded his mind. His missed them.

When each piece was sitting in the spare room, and he had a layer of sweat forming across his brow, John decided it was time for him to sit. The Spartan knew his limits, and right now he was pushing them. The bed was soft, and felt like nothing less than heaven. The door was closed, and the lights were off.

Blowing out a breath, John felt that he could finally rest. His mind wandered where Cortana was, but there was no doubt in his mind that the AI would be chirping in his ear soon. Her presence was a comfort. However, for now the silence was appreciated. He also thought breifly about what little he had heard the girl, River, saying. She was odd. They had been talking about him at one point, but the topic and point was lost on him.

The Chiefs eyelids closed, and he was sleeping instantly.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ok, I hope you guys liked it. Next Chapter it's the ODST's with Reavers thrown in! Ass kicking will insue. Reviews are more than welcome, and also full of awesome!


	6. Speed Bumps and Cannibals

Ok so, again, another late update. I'm oh so sorry bout that. Seriously. But working for my degree and running a house by my self and lots of other boring adult stuff takes up time. I try to get'm out for you guys!

I will say, because of some of the detail I have messed up, or not elaborated on: I don't have a whole lot of time to put into this. Maybe an hour a day… I'm also gaining nothing from this but the self satisfaction of putting an idea to text, and entertaining other fanfic lovers out there. So my attention to perfect technical detail was/is/will be lacking. I'm going to mess up some facts, because I just don't have the inclination to go through every fact and piece of information about Halo or Serenity with a fine tooth comb. Don't have the time either. I'm mainly trying to put an idea/story out there that focuses a lot more on characters and their personalities, and interpersonal relationships, rather that technical detail. Just enjoy the story. I would never claim it's perfect. I'd be so far off…. Pluto would seem warm…. Lolz.

Someone said something about the Chiefs family, and not knowing them. I'm aware he was kidnapped. Fall of Reach was one of my favorite books. When I talk about his 'family' I mean his fellow Spartans. :P

Seriously though, I LOVE reviews. If you guys like the story, leave'm for me! They motivate me to get each chapter done faster.

I've also been thinking about music that would be applicable for the different parts of this story. I know some published authors have playlists now that run with their storys, so why don't I do the same?

For the fight scene in this chapter, I was listening to a particular song a lot. For any advent children fans, you'll know it : The tune from the fight scene with Bahamut ( Those Who Fight Further)

Again, I own nothing but the personalities of my OC's. Please don't sue me Bungie or Joss Whedon. I'm horridly broke as it is.

* * *

There wasn't a whole lot of foliage on this planet, from what Manning could see. Mostly rocks and desert landscape. The direction in which they were headed had the largest concentration of green. Raines pulled ahead of them on the mongoose, drifting to the right on the turn. The man worked good as a scout, and the sergeant wanted him up front. He had a good set of eyes, and a damn good perception.

The small, dusty looking town was coming into view. Doc Leth picked up the binoculars to see further in. There didn't appear to be any trouble yet. Whatever was supposed to happen, they had beat it there. He told Manning what he saw, and the Sergeant announced over the comm that he wanted the second Hog to stay back for the moment, on the perimeter of the settlement. Raines would stay with them and everyone was ordered to be on high alert.

"Pretend we got cloaking Elites marching towards us people. Eyes and ears open. Use your VISR if the surroundings get muddy on ya. Cooper, keep the lines open."

"Copy that Sarge."

The second Warthog skidded to a stop, while the first one, and the mongoose kept going.

People poked their heads outside, or stopped what they were doing to stare. It was an odd scene indeed, Jennings riding in with his son, followed closely by two strange vehicles, while another one waited a ways back. When he reached near the center of town, he began yelling for his wife, whose name was apparently Elizabeth.

The ODST's pulled up behind him and looked on, remaining still for the moment. The only one inclined to move was Raines, and he turned his helmet covered head, waiting for orders from Manning. He scanned the area with his observant eyes, taking in his surroundings.

He remained crouched over the handles of the mongoose, and noticed the local kids gathering to gawk in awe. _What kind of back water archaic planet is this?_ The tallest structure he could see was the water tower, which could have only stood four stories high. After that it was only the basic two floor homes and businesses. _I suppose I could sit in a damn tree. Have these fools no concept of self defense and basic preparation? _The homes all looked like something out of an ancient western film. Confusing would be too light of a label.

Slow and cautious foot falls crept up behind him, and Raines slowly rotated his head, so that the visor of the helmet was directly facing one brave, albeit extremely nervous kid. Intense curiosity spattered the young boys face, and his eyes stared wistfully in wonder at the heroic looking armored man sitting on the four wheeler in front of him. The barrel of a large rifle stuck off his back plate, and looked reminiscent of a back sheathed sword.

Other children whispered and pointed at the larger vehicle with identical armored men. Indeed, sitting in front of them was every kid's dream that had ever played with toy soldiers. They didn't look like Alliance, and had appeared out of nowhere from what they could tell.

The adults were less optimistic in their reception of the disturbance. Worried looking mothers began ushering their children away. Men gathered, and studied them with dark expressions. Ross slouched in his turret, and glanced at his environment. One of the local kids had enough guts to walk up to Raines. The older guy turned slowly and stared at the kid, but the young boy didn't give any ground. Ross heard the dusty face youngin ask the sniper something that sounded along the lines of, "Are you from the Alliance?" There was a thick country accent in his voice. Raines helmet shook from side to side.

Ross's skinny, lanky squad mate actually sat up straight though. Of all the people to have a spine and not be scared, it would end up being a child. Full grown, seasoned soldiers had issues approaching Kevin Raines. Figures. The rest of the squad was often asked how they tolerated being around him for so long. Something about the lanky sniper unnerved people.

Jennings had run off into what appeared to be the local law enforcements office, spouting off at the mouth about Reavers, and hiding being necessary. Ross let his eyes fall on the equipment at his feet, and couldn't help but think he should have brought more ammo for it……

There wasn't too much time to ponder that, and come up with a good complaint to throw at his NCO, because the ripple effective was beginning. Someone had heard Jennings say 'Reaver' and it was like kicking over a fire ant mound. What had to be a cop of some sort threw open the door of the building, gun in hand and walked right up to Raines. Other officers started yelling for people to get to the bank. Jennings ran out and jumped back on his horse, never saying a word, but presumably going for his wife.

The man that had walked up to Raines began demanding to know who they were, and unfortunately…….. pointed his gun directly in the ODST's face.

Leth smacked his palm to his faceplate, and Manning muttered ,"Oh shit…" before jumping out of the driver's seat. He moved his booted feet quickly, wanting to diffuse the situation before it escalated.

Ross yelled nice and loud at the officer, "You dumbass."

The Sergeant yelled to the man to drop his weapon, at about the same time Raines told him to get the gun out of his face.

It was to no effect, and the cop demanded to know who they were, and if they had brought the Reavers with them. When the man's eyes left his target for the briefest of moments to look at Manning, Raines acted.

Normal people would drop to the ground to avoid guns, or run from them. Raines lunged at the man, gripping his wrist and twisting it down. The pistol ejected a round into the dirt. The ODST landed a punch to the guys face, and the kicked up with his left foot. He brought his boot under the man's neck, then swung it back down, bringing his opponent along. During all of this, he never left the mongoose seat.

The guy landed face first in the dirt, and his arm was still in the snipers grasp, twisted about, and no doubt causing pain. The guy whimpered.

Ross sniggered a little bit. "I saw that coming."

Raines leaned down towards the man's ear and said plainly, "Don't ever pull a gun on me unless you plan to use it directly."

"Raines, let him go now."

Now the attention of the other lawmen was on them. An older man, with a trimmed beard moved toward them.

"If you could please get yer man to be let'n my deputy go, we've got a situation!" His voice was controlled, but clearly laced with worry. The older man was seasoned, and looked as though he had seen his fair share of fights.

Engines roared in the distance. Raines let the guy up, but never took his eyes off him.

"I don't know who you boys are, but I sure as hell hope you can fight. Might be best if ya run for your lives." Someone came running clumsily towards the gaggle.

"Sherriff!! I waved for help, but no one answered. There's ships floatin, but they're leavin system."

"Then get out of here boy. Go get yer family hid."

Manning shouldered his assault rifle and placed himself right in front of the sheriff.

"Sir, if you're in need of aid we'd be happy to help."

The Sheriff looked the black armored man up and down. "You might be a peck more concerned with stayin alive. Don't know how much armor will do ya 'gainst Reavers. Be that the case, I got something I like to ask ya. When this is over, if we be living. "

There was a scream from the end of the street, and true bedlam erupted. The crowd was running everywhere, screaming. A ship hovered over head, with men dropping down from rip lines. But when you got a better look at them, the dark recess of the mind would shudder in horror at the sight. Mutilated, grotesque bodies and faces, gnashing, sharp cruel teeth all painted a rather vivid picture. Now it was a little more clear why the fear and panic had spread. The point was driven home when the first deformed snarling freak began chewing into a woman's face. Another ripped her throat out, and the screams she was belting turned into sickening gurgles.

"Fuck!", Ross yelled. The turret fired up, and launched bullets at the Reavers, ripping them to shreds. A red spray told him they were dead, but four more promptly took their place.

Manning ran back around the Hog, and fired his assault rifle to take three of them down. The four, and several more from nearby screamed, and shot what looked like darts at him. Ross vaporized the threat. The Sergeant jumped back in the driver's seat. Raines peeled out and disappeared around a corner.

Heavy gunfire told them that the other Warthog was already in action. Cooper came in over the comm.

"Sergeant we've got boogeys engaging. Would you please enlighten me as to what in god's name they are?"

"I'd love to know myself. When you find out let me be acquainted with the definition. Fire at will, protect the civilians as best you can."

The Hog roared through the streets, and Manning jerked the wheel to avoid hitting any of the normal people. He slammed the Reavers down, and felt them go 'bump' under his wheels. Cutting the wheel hard to the right, he spun the vehicle around and hit another. It fell, and Doc Leth aimed with his SMG, ending the abomination that was it's face.

The sound of the turret fire was deafening, but you could still hear Ross yelling, "WWWWOOOOOOOOOO YEAH!!!" over everything. He couldn't understand what kind of people would run willing into a line of fire. Something hit his armor, and he spotted a line of spines sticking into the metal. The turret spun, and he took out the offending shooter. Even grunts knew better than to stick around when the big guns were pulled out.

The battle waged around them like a whirlwind of violence, if it could even be called a battle. The civilians ran in a chaos that was about as productive as kicking a wasps nest, while anyone with a gun seemed to fight back fruitlessly.

The ODST's could feel their adrenaline pumping. This was battle. This was life for them, and no one did it better. Like the pounding of a drum beating out the call of war, they fell into the dangerous waltz whose rhythm called to each of their hearts.

Cooper leaned into the sharp turn as Dawkins careened around a building. His battle rifle's clip emptied into the savage's horrifically decorated chest. He whispered the Lord's prayer under his breath, and slapped in more rounds, never missing a step. The radio buzzed with his voice after he yelled out each tidbit of information. Their position, kill count, and destination were carried over the comm to Manning. They coordinated to give a group of civilians more time to flee, and then to run down three or four Reavers at a time. The constant vibration from Smith's incessant firing traveled down his spine like a graceful staccato. He could hear Ross over the comm yelling and screaming with nothing that could be described as anything other than glee. He shouted tips at the rookie, and remarked on the kid's sloppy handling of the turret. What the kid did not realize at the time, was that Ross was the only man known to the UNSC that had made turret operation of any kind into an art form. It was almost as if he could control each bullet, wasting little to none.

* * *

The violent dance went on, and went measure to measure onto a solo few but Raines could perform. Nestled in the safe embrace of the water towers cover, he let the extension of himself named Kate play the role of death dealer.

One, two, five, down for the count. Like dominos in a chain reaction.

Head shot, heart shot, through the neck. For nothing would he slow his trigger finger. The motions flowed like silk as he aimed from target to target. Raines was trained in a new definition of grace that few understood. It melded with energy and flowed in a pattern few could discern. Fatality strayed woven through the blueprint. In his ear he could hear his sensei giving instruction.

"_Better to fall down seven times, and pick yourself up eight more. Never let a movement or action go to waste. Make every second count. This is the difference between life and death, meaning and nothingness for most. The sense of self truth will guide your hand if you allow this to be so."_

This mantra cycled through his thoughts every time he held his beloved rifle, or performed the physical arts in which he was extensively schooled. Excellence was the only result that could be rendered acceptable. All else was sub-par.

* * *

Ross bent his knees and moved with the Warthogs actions, never once losing an iota of control over his turret. Faster and faster the orchestra of brutal pandemonium stirred. A small vehicle roared over head and launched wicked looking projectiles into a building. Reavers manned harpoon guns, and shot them into the crowds, dragging people out by an arm or leg. The skiff fired large crude spikes at the Warthog, and Manning scarcely missed it, swerving just in time.

"Cutting it close Sarge?"

"Still talking incessantly Ross?"

"Only because I luffs you sawwwge."

"Shut your lips and kill that skiff." He slammed the brake hard, and drifted left to dodge another attack. The Reavers were no longer ignoring them. A second skiff appeared over the buildings. A man dangled, bloodied from its nose.

On the other end of the street, Dawkins barreled the second Hog towards them. Ross took a second glance, made some split second calculations, and reached down at his feet. He hoisted the heavy launcher onto his shoulder and whistled a tune while taking aim.

He ignored the craft coming at them from the right, and focused on Cooper, Dawkins and Smiths harassers. The tracking system locked and he fired the rocket. A smoking trail curved through the air, and collided into what looked like the skiffs cockpit.

The ship spiraled out of control above them. The seconds stretched on, and Manning looked on unsurprised at his gunner's genius. No one seemed to give Ross any credit. There was more intelligence there than met the eye. The out of control vessel spun rapidly before colliding with the other. Shrapnel and fire rained down on them like precipitation from hell.

Manning and Dawkins swerved to avoid each other. At the last second, Ross caught something out of the corner of his eye. Every muscle in his body tensed as he tried to turn the turret fast enough.

Two Reavers leapt from the roof tops towards the second Warthog. Gore encrusted blades curved wickedly in their hands. Ross emptied ammunition at the targets, but only caught one Reavers leg. Red spray coated the Hog.

Before the snarling monster could land on Coopers lap, it looked as though an invisible force jerked it's head back, changing the mid-air trajectory.

Raines was out there somewhere.

The second one landed on the hood. It gripped the edges to stay on, and lunged at Cooper over the wind shield.

"Shit-" was all he could say and only just stopped the blade from plunging into his neck. Dawkins fought to keep control of the vehicle. Smith pulled his side arm and fired. The bullet struck the Reaver's shoulder, but the savage acted as though nothing had happened. It still fought to force the blade down into Cooper, but the ODST would have none of it. He smashed his helmet covered head repeatedly into the 'things' face. The mutilated face bled profusely, but the Reaver only grabbed onto the back of Coopers head, and brought its gnashing teeth down onto the visor.

"Ahhh!!! Is he chewing on my face?!? Get off, _GET OFF!!_"

Cooper pushed with all his might, and pinned the Reaver up against the wind shield, keeping him there with his boot. Smith finished it off and emptied the nine mil's clip into its face. Cooper pushed it from the Hog, and felt the bump as the rear wheels passed over the corpse. Sgt. Manning came over the comm..

"Cooper, What the hell was all the screaming about?"

"It tried to eat me!"

Ross's unmistakable snigger followed. "It thinks you're nummers Coop."

"I think your mom is nummers."

"I think your face is nummers, and apparently so do the cannibals."

The radio buzzed with short laughter.

"That's it, I'm shoving my foot up your ass when this is over Nik. I've been hearing your mouth for years and I've had it. Do you have any idea how aggravating you are?"

More giggling was Ross's response. Sgt. Manning spoke.

"Are you alright Coop?"

"Yeah. Be advised now. These things do bite…. In the face."

Manning cut another corner, and spotted Reavers smashing their way into a building. There had to be people inside. Stomping the gas, the Hog roared into them, splattering the front bumper with blood. Ross swerved around and ended the survivor's lives.

Unfortunately the Sergeant heard a somewhat ominous sound behind him. The turret clicked to the tune of a repeatedly empty round chamber. Ross was out of ammo for now.

The Reavers however didn't stop. The moment Manning stopped the Warthog, they ran at the ODST's. He slid from the driver seat and brought his assault rifle up. Easy burst fire to the head stopped each one.

Before Doc Leth had moved two feet from the vehicle, a Reaver tackled him from the shadows of an alley way. He held it off and couldn't grab his gun while he was prone. The medic placed a foot on the snarling things chest, and kicked with all his might.

The savage launched backwards. The doc might be small, but size was irrelevant when compared to his solid strength. The thing foamed at the mouth, and scrambled back for more.

A solid _BANG BANG BANG_ erupted behind him. The cannibal lay with craters in it's face.

Ross holstered his side arm. He was the only one of them to carry a Desert Eagle, instead of a magnum. It was more of a hand cannon than a gun. Maybe that was why he liked it.

"Help us!!! AHHHH, it's in here!" The chorus of terrified cries was gut renching.

Manning kicked his way inside the building and popped off more bursts, killing the things inside, and leaving the civilians untouched. A woman was clutching a bloodied rag to her chest and face, and two men lay dead. Children were crying in the corner.

"MEDIC! Leth, get yer ass in here!"

The doc bounded inside, followed by Ross. The medical pack was flung to the ground.

Ross turned away. He'd seen a lot of horrible things during the war, but this was enough to churn his gut. What could do something so grotesque?

Doc Leth checked the bodies for any sign of life, before moving to the woman. She was crying and hysterical.

"Ma'am remove your hands please. I need to see how bad it is."

"We're all gonna die!! The Reavers will wipe us out like they did the other towns!!"

"Ma'am please-"

"Who are you?!! Don't touch me!! Bert!!! Where's my husband?!"

"Look lady, I'm medical personnel, and I sure as hell don't have the patience to-"

"LETH" Manning warned. The medic had a mouth when he was annoyed, and no couth to speak of either way.

With a BOOM, an inner door was kicked through, and a local man stood with a shotgun aimed at all them. He stood straight up, his hands up in caution and at the ready. Manning and Ross pulled their weapons up in retaliation.

The shotgun immediately aimed at the medic.

"Get yer hands of ma' wife."

"Sir, put your weapon down. We are trying to help." Manning's voice was cool and even. The woman was still making annoying screeching noises.

"Hogwash!! Gorram Reaver's eat'n the place up? Ain't right and neither is you. Strangers aint welcomed here. You bring trouble!" In an all to perfect moment, one of the retched cannibals jumped on the man's back, and sunk its teeth into his shoulder. He dropped the gun, and to Leth's relief, it didn't eject a round.

Ross's Desert Eagle sang again, and burst the things skull like a melon. Snarls in the back told them there were more. The doc reached down and grabbed the gun. He didn't want to look at any more mutilated faces.

_The damn fool of a man had the safety on_. The senselessness of it enraged him. In one fluid motion he grabbed the gun, twirled it around his finger to the correct position, flicked the safety off and took a step forward. The deafening BOOM felt as though it shook the home, and left behind to squishy piles of red meat that resembled mutilated humans.

He rounded on the man, and his voice was tinted with rage.

"Bullocks man, you had the godforsaken safety on! What were ya gonna do? CLUB THEM WITH IT? _Are you outta yer fecking mind?_" The medic's accent got thicker the longer he went on and his tone became more disbelieving.

Ross had to suppress another giggle. Whenever Leth got mad, which was rare, the squad joked that he would revert back to his native language. The pure blooded Irishman could get pretty damn unintelligible after a few minutes. However, he couldn't hold back a smartass remark.

"Hey Doc, calm down. No one wants to try and translate river dance."

Manning turned his head and made his visor transparent. He stared at Ross with a flat expression for several seconds before he couldn't hold it, and burst with laughter. The Sergeant twisted towards Leth.

"You alright there Doc?"

"I cannot stand stupidity, especially when someone can get whacked because of it."

"Ya work hard there, to uh, speak good EngRish?" Ross grinned.

"Blow it out your ear. Damn eejits…."

Doc Leth looked down at the man, and dropped the gun back on the guys chest. He walked over to the woman, crouched down, and said nothing. She looked into the blank reflective visor once and became quiet.

Manning glanced out the door, watching for more Reavers, and Ross threw a bandage at the man on the floor before proceeding to the back. They heard several more shots.

* * *

He didn't have enough ammo for every target. The Reavers were swarming like flies on shit. Some of the locals were doing their best to fight them off, but it was almost futile. None of them seemed to have any kind of training except the law enforcement, and that was being nice.

Raines paused when he heard snarling below him. He peaked over the lip of the water tower platform, and saw one of the rabid cannibals making its way up, and more were following it. _So, they're smart enough to trace shot trajectory?_

He perched on the edge, and pushed off with all the strength his leg muscles could mustered. It launched him forward, and down onto the roof of the building closest to the tower. Raines tucked and rolled, the landing jolting his body. He looked over his shoulder and saw the savages attempting to follow him. Then, the idea hit him.

"Cooper?"

"I hear you Raines, loud and clear."

"I just jumped off the water tower, and I'm going to head towards, what looks like, the general store. Big yellow sign in front of it. It's a dead end down that alley. I'm gonna get as many of them to follow me as possible. At the last minute get your asses there and get Smith to light up the corridor." The roof tops passed under his feet as he headed towards his goal.

"Are you forgetting the fact that you're going to be in the line of fire man?"

"I won't be there."

"Whatever you say." Coopers shrug was almost audible.

As he ran the length of the roof tops, Raines made sure he stomped his feet hard. He wanted to draw attention to himself, and off the civilians stupid enough to still be in the streets. It worked very well. They chased him on the ground, and a few even climbed up onto the buildings. He could hear a _ping ping ping_ and looked around for the source. One of the Reavers had fired what looked like some kind of dart gun. He paid no attention, until the unmistakable rattle of actual bullets sang at his feet. The vibrations went up to his spine.

Kevin Raines swerved on his heel and pulled his magnum. In three well placed shots the Reavers heads jerked back, and they fell off their feet. Re-holstering the hand gun, he leapt across a gap in the roofs. The alley way wasn't far off now. If he could out run them, the only thing he had to worry about was getting shot. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It was coming up to the end of his space to run. He was going to have to hit the ground soon. The grisly faced freaks were beginning to swarm towards him.

"Cooper where are you?"

Raines heard turret fire down the street, followed by a grenade blast.

"Not far Kev."

"I'll be pounding dirt in a moment. Don't let me down. If I get eaten or killed because of you I'll haunt you till the end of your days church boy."

"Did you just admit to believing in god?"

"No. I just admitted my force of will is strong enough to influence and harass long after I'm gone. Just get yer ass here."

"Roger that ,oh stubborn one."

* * *

Leth slapped quick bandages on the woman's wounds, and looked over the kids. They'd been hiding behind furniture and went unnoticed by the Reavers. The savages had gone after the obvious targets of the adults. They had kept reasonably calm for as young as they looked.

"Hey Doc, we've got some hungry freaks coming in fast."

The husband spoke up for the first time since he pointed his 12 gauge at Leth.

"If we can get down stairs, there's a cellar door that opens up on the secluded side of the house." He hustled over to a wooden cabinet in the other room. The little boy followed him. When the doors swung open it revealed a well stocked gun stash.

Ross leaned in.

"What the fuck? Are you stock piling for a militia?"

"These here are my personal fire arms."

The medic mumbled something about 'bloody boggers'.

"What was that Doc?"

"I need a drink. Bad."

Glass crashed in, and the burst fire of Manning's assault rifle sounded off. Leth scooped up the little girl, and quite literally tossed her to her father.

A Reaver lunged at him, wielding a curved blade, and snarling with its sharp teeth bared. The medic blocked the blade with the metal armored plate on his forearm, and landed a right hook on the things face. He reached out and scored several more jabs before head butting it. The Reaver stumbled back. The Doc pulled his SMG up at that moment, and sprayed the rounds into its chest.

The man walked up behind him.

"Where'd you learn to hit like that?"

Leth turned calmly around and ejected the empty magazine from the gun." My da taught me to bare knuckle box when I was a teen."

"Well here." He tossed the shotgun at the shorter medic. "You seem like you know what's what with it _Puhn Yo_"

"What did he just call me?"

"Later Leth. We gotta move people."

Ross yelled from the back, " Eat this assface!!" _BANG BANG BANG_

The wife pulled a rug out of place and flipped open a hatch in the floor.

"In here." Her voice wasn't much more than a squeak, and for that, Manning was thankful. He didn't like the idea of making it through the war, and surviving multiple explosions with minimal scarring and no permanent hearing loss, only to have it go down the drain from some woman's incessant screeching.

She grabbed her daughter and hurried down the steep steps. The little boy followed after, and Leth ushered in the father. The shorter man followed after retrieving his medical pack. Ross jumped in, and Manning followed to close the door.

* * *

He had to find wherever there was mid level between the roof and ground. The alley would be coming up fast. Up ahead and to the left there was a porch cover that seemed promising.

He jumped down on it and pounced again, head first. The ground rushed up at him quick, and he hit on his hands and rolled onto his feet. A Reaver slashed its blade in a greeting. Raines bent his upper body back, never missing a beat. The blade whooshed past his chest. As quick as he could, the sniper heaved his upper body forward again, and used the momentum to land a roundhouse.

He didn't stick around to finish the job though. Within moments more of the cannibals were swarming. Instead Raines bolted, running as fast as he could for the alley. That was pretty damn fast.

Dust kicked up with each pounding stride. The alley was just ahead of him. Another Reaver lunged at him, but he used the butt of his rifle to beat it down, and kept pace. The distraction was working, almost too well. He felt like he was back on the planet Garnet, when he and the rest of platoon had been trapped for over a week, evading a small army of Elites, and almost no ammo to speak of.

Out of the corner of his eye, the saw the Hog coming. Dawkins had good timing. He cut right sharply and ran down the alley finally. Raines could almost feel his heart sink though, because there was nothing for him to jump on or climb over at the end. The disjointed turret fire only made things worse. There was no time. The Reavers were on him like a pack of dogs. _Getting eaten by a bunch of soulless freaks wasn't exactly the end I had in mind. _

He calculated the width of the corridor quickly, and ran even faster. A good amount of momentum would be needed for this trick.

He summoned all the power in his legs and just as the end was coming up, he jumped at the wall on the left side. His left foot connected and he sprung off the wall, and repeated the action on the right side. In less than 30 seconds, Raines scaled the walls. It was not a moment too soon either.

As if rehearsed the hog skidded to a halt at the end of the alley, and the large caliber bullets shredded the Reavers that were scrambling after the sniper.

It was seconds too late however, that Raines felt the tell tale sensations of foot steps behind him. He rolled forward, practically falling off the roof. Cooper leaned above the Warthog windshield and took the snarling freak out with a burst of fire.

The sniper took a moment to ponder what had just happened. The Reaver had calculated where he was going to be. _They're intelligent. They would have to be to pilot ships._

"Dawkins, get moving. Don't stay still for too long."

"This isn't the first time I've driven a Hog."

"Yeah but these things aren't dumb. They're learning our patterns, making counter moves."

"They're like raving lunatics Kevin. I think we've come up against worse." Cooper snorted. The Warthog pulled away, and Raines crouched near a chimney.

"No shit we've met worse. But how did we survive? Savage does not mean stupid. Use your brain bible thumper." He ended the comm transmission and went silent. He wasn't going to hold their hands. Battle hardened soldiers should know better. _They're lucky I said anything at all._

The verbal slap was not uncommon from his squad mate, but what he had said struck true. Over confidence killed. Cooper hailed all the comms.

"ODST's be advised, targets learn your patterns. Resort to confusion tactics."

Of course, Ross was the first to respond.

"You think if I show them the luminescence of my uber white ass it'll confuse them?"

"Might scare them…."

* * *

Ross grinned because of Coopers comment. He looked over his shoulder, and with the night vision in his helmet watched Sgt. Manning moving silently behind him.

Manning realized they couldn't keep this up for long. The ODST's could protect themselves without a problem, but all of these practically defenseless civilians were another matter. Leaving them behind to be slaughtered wasn't even an option. He'd spent to much of his life protecting humanity to just let lives get snuffed out because of his own need for self preservation. There was a solution to this, just like every other problem. One just had to find the proper way of going about things.

"Sir," the sergeant called ahead," Where is the safest building in this town?"

The man's voice floated back to him.

"That would be the bank I reckon.."

_That's right…. The people at the sheriffs office had mentioned it earlier.._

"Then that's were we're going." Manning activated the comm. "Raines?"

"Read you loud and clear Sergeant."

"I need a safe route for four civilians to this towns bank." He knew the sniper would have the best information and feel for the areas layout."

"Then you need to get on my level. High ground gives the advantage."

"Copy that."

They were at the entrance to the basement from the outside now. Ross crouched on the stairs and poked a fiber optic camera through the cracks. There were no signs of the Reavers at the moment.

Manning spoke to the man once more. "Your going to listen to me very carefully, and follow everything I tell you to do if you want us to get you out of here."

He nodded, holding his kid tightly. His wife sniffed softly next to him.

"We are going open that door, and find a way onto the roof tops. Then we'll make pace to the bank. Being up there will give us the advantage. My men will cover you. Don't stop, and don't panic. When you panic, you lose. Understand?"

They all nodded hurriedly. On the other side of the basement they could hear the Reavers beating their way through the locked hatch door.

"Leth, I want you to stay with them. Ross and I will be diversions. Put that 12 gauge to good use, got it?"

"Yes sergeant."

Ross looked through the camera again." If we're going, we best be going now."

"Open the door."

The redhead rammed the double doors with his shoulders, and they popped open. He jumped out first, gun raised. He motioned with one hand to proceed silently, and swept the area again with his eyes. Tortured screams echoed through the town. Another skiff soared over head. The father came out first, carrying his daughter and covering her mouth. The mother and son were next, followed by Leth and Manning. The medic had the shotgun shouldered at the ready.

The man whispered that the bank was only a few streets down, and that his name was Bret Williams. Ross pointed to stacked crates around the corner of the next door building. The place must have been some sort of machine shop, judging by the contents listed.

Manning motioned for Leth to climb up first. The medic shouldered the shotgun with it's strap, and started to ascend. Climbing quickly was something he'd always been good at.

Raines buzzed in over the comm.

"I can see were you're coming up. Looks like the Doc."

The civilians came next. Leth told them to roll their feet to prevent to much noise and move as fast as possible.

Manning and Ross slipped back to the front of the house were the Reavers were pouring inside. The Warthog was still there, and had gone ignored by them. With a hand signal to move forward, the two ODST's ran for the vehicle. Ross jumped in the passenger seat, and the sergeant behind the wheel. The gargled scream let them know they had been spotted. The Hog's engine roared to life, and Manning reversed sharply, hitting a few 'speed bumps' along the way. They drove in the opposite direction of the others, and honked the horn loudly. It drew the attention they so craved.

Ross gripped up his sergeants assault rifle, and began popping of rounds at the Reavers, picking of targets one by one.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel Sergeant."

"Only the fish are jumping piranha's." Manning grumbled back.

The vehicle jolted as it hit more 'speed bumps'. An ominous shadow covered them. The skiff was closing in.

* * *

Leth's feet were silent as he moved across the roof's surface. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the civilians following him. Try as they might, those people couldn't sneak up on a blind deaf mute. Raines kept in contact with him, guiding them over the elevated geography. A small mirror reflection off the side of a chimney let Leth know where his squad mate was, and were they were heading. The sniper was going to meet up with them and go the rest of the way. Cooper, Dawkins, and Smith were going to meet them at the bank. This was were the stand had to be made. If the ODST's wanted to be successful in protecting most these people, it had to happen. Ross had been enough of a smartass to point out over the comm that it was like they were baby sitting a bunch of defenseless children, and wondered loudly how they had all gotten into this mess.

"A Spartan needed rescuing." Raines muttered. He had never chimed in on as much conversation as he had recently. They all chuckled at the remark.

"Everyone always ends up needing us to rescue them." Dawkins remarked.

Leth came upon a larger gap than they had anticipated. He judged the distance, and knew instantly he could clear it. The people following him how ever…..

There had to be something around them that he could use…….and he spotted it. On the adjacent roof, one of boards was loose. In fact, the entire panel looked easy to pull away. He shouldered the gun again, and told the family to get down out of sight. The Irishman took a few steps back, and sprinted as fast as he could force his legs.

He leapt, and cleared the gap with a few feet to spare. Rolling over, his fingers found the edge of the wood, and he pulled with all his might. The medic might have been short, but he was not weak. After several tugs, the board separated from the nails holding it in place. The next one followed suit. He took each one, and laid them across the gap. Two more were pried up, and laid over top for added strength. It still wasn't sturdy, but it would have to do. Even if the two adults could jump, the kids couldn't. Neither looked older than ten. He pointed a gloved hand at the little girl, and motioned for her to come across. She hesitated for a moment, but after a few encouragements from her father, she dropped to all fours, and shuffled across with surprising ease. Leth waited for her on one knee. When she made it, the little girl gripped his arm tightly, eyes wide with fear.

His heart melted, like it always did with children. A reassuring pat on the head made her smile slightly, and he motioned for the boy next. The kid paused, and sized up the poor excuse for a bridge. He backed up a few steps, and ran straight forward. The mother suppressed another screech, and clutched her hands to her mouth.

Not once did the boy loose his balance, or even come close to falling. When he had passed safely, he jumped into Leths arms, nearly knocking him down.

"Did I do ok?"

He patted the kid's head as well. "You both did great. I gotta help your parents now."

The young ones nodded and moved to the side keeping low. _Smart kids……_

There was a sharp, almost inaudible _crack_ of gunfire. A body of a Reaver fell from behind the parents. The Doc had never even seen the thing.

_Thank god I should never have to face him on opposite sides of the field._

The mother was scared, almost to the point of panic. She started to climb across, but the pace was agonizingly slow. Leth motioned for her to speed up. It didn't work. Her husband even tired to usher her along.

The screams were less wide spread now. There was the continuous drone of a skiff, and the steady _pop pop_ of gunfire coming from the area near the bank. The action had died down in all but one area now. Everyone else was hiding, holed up, or dead.

The woman was about halfway across now, and it was tempting Leth's patience. He had no tolerance to weak women. They were annoying.

A snarl grabbed his attention. One of the freaks was below them. It raised it's gun. Leth pulled his SMG. The Reaver got off several shots at the woman, but missed.

Leth didn't miss. But the mother still screamed bloody murder, and just about lost her balance. She clutched the boards for dear life, more than halfway through.

More Reavers were clambering up on to the opposite roof. The father looked, and decided to take his chances jumping. He made it… barely.

There was a _flit flit flit_ sound, and he groaned loud. Leth watched his yank a dart out of his leg.

"Ruttin hell…" He murmured.

The medic shot down two of the savages, but the last one made it to the end of the little bridge. Unceremoniously, it kicked the boards, causing the whole thing to fall.

She screamed.

At the last possible moment, Leth reached out with his long arms, and grasped her wrist.

Her body slapped hard into the side of the building. The weight was making him slide. He had no anchoring.

She gripped fruitlessly for a hand hold.

"Mommy!, C'mon!" The kids cried.

_I can't drop this woman in front of her kids…_

The medic braced as best he could, and summoned all the force possible to start pulling her up. By the grace of some god, she found a foot hold, and started to push up.

A second hand gripped her other wrist, and aided in the effort. The father was trying, but looked worse for wear. Leth suspected the dart was poisoned.

Together, with considerable effort, the two men hoisted her up.

There was another _crack_ of a long range rifle.

"You wanna move your ass Doc? I don't have infinite ammunition for this thing." Raines asked softly.

He rose to his feet and told them to follow him. Raines joined up with them. It wasn't long before the group stood across from the bank. As they had suspected, and defenders were hanging out the windows, trying desperately to hold of the threat.

Someone yelled, having spotted them on the roof. The iron fire escape on the side of the brick building could be swiveled to connect to the one next door incase a ground fire threatened the escapes base. The people inside moved it towards them.

Raines pulled his side arm again, and turned to guard as the kids crawled across first.

A Reaver climbed onto the roof, only to fall back with a bullet in the head. Another lost half it's shoulder from the shotgun.

Bret was horribly pale in the face. His wife scrambled across much quicker than before, and yelled for him to follow her. Now it was his turn to slow down. When she had made it inside the window, the men started to pull the escape in, saving Bret the effort of moving any further. As they were finishing, he went completely unconscious.

The four civilians were saved…… but the two ODST's remained on the adjacent roof with Reavers swarming on them.

"Sonofabitch…." Leth trailed off. Raines was silent.

The shotgun splattered another of the savages. The snipers foot connected with a face, and knocked the thing off the building.

"You're welcome arseholes!" The medic yelled over his shoulder. He fired off another round, but was tackled by on of the beasts.

Two rounded on Raines. The first was instantly taken down, the other threw a blade…and appeared to miss. Soon it followed it's companion into death.

Leth wrestled with the Reaver. It drooled onto his helmet, and fought to stab it's prey. He though about the combat knife sheathed in his chest plate. Taking the chance to draw it, the doc jammed it between the things ribs.

It still fought. He repeated the stabs, over and over. Only when it's strength waned slightly, did the medic dare to stab it's eye socket.

With considerable effort, Leth pushed the body off himself. He remained on his back, taking a brief rest. Raines was on one knee. He looked at the sniper, made his visor transparent and grinned.

"Ya know Kevin, this is turnin out to be one hell of a rescue mission. And they wonder why I'm _not_ re-enlisting again."

Raines snorted in amusement.

* * *

Cooper piped in over the comm.

"Sergeant. Tatsuo found a way to boost his signal and make contact with us."

Manning gripped the wheel and cut left, hard. Ross was aiming the SPNKR at the skiff.

"What did he have to say?"

"There's ships inbound to our atmo. Couple big ones, and several smaller ones. He's picking up a signal thats awful familiar."

"Familiar how?" He ran over another Reaver.

"He's picking up the frequency of another UNSC smart AI."

"No shit?"

* * *

So, hope you guys like it. The next chapter just might have one big happy UNSC reunion in it. :D

I'm really eager to get some ODST personalities mixing with the crew of Serenity. It's interesting in my head, and I'm hoping it's like that in text. Thanks for all your reviews! Tell me if you like it!


	7. Wakin up & Weasel Stomping

Yeah, WAY more delays on this chapter than I would have liked. Between me getting sick, and my internet screwing up, I was on the verge of giving up. I've had this chapter done for a few days, but my web service decided to be a jerkass and not work. Not only did this chapter not get posted, but homework for my online courses was late. Oh joy.

Now that that's off my chest, I want to thank my loyal reviewers who come back every time. The rest of you need to stop being shy! I know you're reading this. I can see it in the hit amount! Lol

I wrote a small oneshot prequel to this called A night on Garnet. It is in the regular Halo section. If enough people like it, I'll change it from a oneshot and add more fragments.

A night on Garnet is a short scene about my OC ODST's. Mostly Manning and Raines. Go check it out.

I have recently started a blog. You guys can follow my progress on the story there, and find any songs I post to go along with each chapter. It will also have little tidbits of information that might not make it into the story. If I ever get to drawing my characters, I'll be posting their pics there as well. The link is in my profile.

Before I forget, there is a post about this in my blog already, but I'll say it here. Start thinking about who your favorite OC is. I pretty much know how the story will end now, but some things are still fuzzy. Someone is going to die. No one in the story is safe honestly. So pick your favorite OC, and hell, tell me why you like'em! It'll help my character development in future writing.

So here is chapter seven! I own nothing but my OC's personality's. For love of Bridgit, don't sue me. I don't gotz nuffin's!

* * *

The bed had been small, but none the less, he made it work. Remnants of the drugs the doctor had injected into his system still remained, and they helped him fall asleep. The dull ache from the doctors work presented it's self to him again, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. John would recover soon, as he always did. It was considerably easier for him to breath, and less painful. His throat felt raw, and his lungs burned with each breath. This had to be from entering cryo without the gel in his lungs. He could feel where his body had been battered. No doubt the angry purple splotches were as vibrant as ever. The bruises would fade, eventually.

As he rolled out of the bed, he dropped into the push up position and worked until he reached one hundred. He could almost feel the long period of inactivity affecting his muscles. It shouldn't be so because of the cryo, but he swore he could feel it anyway. John stopped at the push ups though. He wasn't fully recovered yet. Another day or two should be sufficient.

The next agenda at hand was exploring the ship, learning where he was, and finding a way back to the UNSC. That was the mission. He needed to find where Cortana was too. If he knew her, it would be on the bridge, absorbing as much information as possible. But where was the bridge? _Sigh. _

The magnum was resting on the floor near his pillow. He re-holstered it, and turned to the door. Time to figure out what kind of a situation he was in.

The corridor outside the small sliding door was dim and silent. The entire ship seemed to be silent. _What time is it? Are they all sleeping?_ Small sounds echoed down the hallway. They sounded familiar, like the noise an engine gives off. It seemed to come from above.

For right now, he looked down towards the medical bay. That was slightly familiar ground, and he should get a better look at it first.

Nothing looked changed from the last time he walked through. Next was what had to be the cargo chamber. After walking out of the to-short door way, the cryo tube from the _Forward Unto Dawn_ was visible. _Did I really sit in there for four years? _The thought had trouble sitting comfortably.

He couldn't help but think back to his Spartans, and the Doctor. There were so many emotions he felt when it came to that, John didn't even know how to handle them. They were foreign and unproductive.

Had he been marked MIA, like the rest?

Was he that disposable?

John shook the thoughts from his head. Thinking of that nature wasn't productive. The UNSC considered him too valuable to just let go, with out confirmation of his death or status. He doubted the Arbiter would report him as such. The alien seemed to have some kind of a sense of honor. How killing millions in a planet glassing could be considered honorable was a whole other matter.

He decided to go up the stairs that he spotted near the med bay, towards the engine sounds. Maybe someone was awake up there. John was unsure of the kind of protocol or ranking structure they had on the ship. He was pretty sure it was a civilian vessel, as no servicemen would be so undisciplined. However, the military discipline in him urged at the maintenance of the rank respect. So he wanted to try and work with the captain as best as it was possible. That particular road seemed as though it was going to be rough. The captain had been a bit hard to read. What had stood out the most in the Spartans mind was that the safety of the crew seemed to come first. It was an admirable trait, and one of a leader.

His feet made little noise going up the steps, despite being encased in boots. A couple decades of being stealthy would make the skill come naturally to anyone.

The ship seemed old and broken in. One could almost feel the history and past events coming out of the walls. There was a palpable feeling in the air. It reminded him of Reach, and he knew what it was instantly. This was more than a ship. This was someone's home.

There was an audible humming over the engine sounds now. Someone was singing a tune to them self. It was a sweet feminine voice that was bubbly and cheerful.

As he rounded the top of the stairs, light shown from the side and revealed an opening to what looked to be a sort of engine room. He peeked his head around. Settled in the upper corner of the room, was a young girl with a ponytail and grease smeared face. She was fiddling with a welding tool and whistling an upbeat tune.

Precariously balanced would be a good way to describe her position.

John didn't want to be impolite, as it wasn't in him normally. He walked up and around and softly said, "Hello? Ma'am?"

The girl didn't seem to hear anything though. The tools and engine had not been making enough noise to drown him out. When he looked closer, he noticed she had small, pink ear phones inserted in her ears. The wire ran down to what looked like a portable media player on her tool belt.

In a few strides he moved closer, trying to get her attention. When he was at the doorway, John said again, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

She noticed him this time, and yelped loudly. The sudden appearance of an unfamiliar face startled her, and her feet slipped. Any balance she had was lost.

Purely on reflex, John was under her in a flash and prevented a possible head injury. He caught her, and placed her on the ground gently and unceremoniously. The bruises on his arms ached.

He towered over her by several heads, and had to look down when she looked up.

Her smile was bright and honest, and she laughed nervously when she plucked the head phones out of her ears.

"Oh ya scared me there. Thank you! I ain't exactly the most graceful thing that there ever was."

"That's fine ma'am."

"You must be the guy we picked up yesterday, obviously." She laughed again, nervously.

"Yes"

"I' don't think you caught my name before. I'm Kaylee." She held out her hand, and was nervously shaking ever so slightly. It was tiny in comparison to his large one, and he remembered not to squeeze hard when he shook it.

"Nice to meet you."

John couldn't prevent the corner of his mouth from turning up into a slight grin. The girl had a good natured demeanor that he suspected was infectious and could make anyone smile.

"Sorry if I'm a tad shaky. Last time we picked up a stranger on board he went all threatening and homicidal, and tied me up. And now here you are. Haha."

The Chief rose an eyebrow.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. I kinda just speak my mind, and don't pay too close attention to what comes out. How are you feeling?"

"Um, alright I suppose. Where is everyone, and your Captain? I'm not quite sure.."

"Oh, they're all sleepin." She waved a hand dismissively." It's about 5 am here on _Serenity_. We synched up with the nearest planets time. No one will be up till six, cept River if she's wonderin 'round. "

"Oh." _River was the skinny strange one, the doctors sister…_

"Are ya hungry?"

John didn't even have to think of a reply.

"Yes ma'am."

"You don't have to call me that. Make me feel all old. Everyone here just calls me Kaylee. I'm _Serenity_'s mechanic. I keep her flyin when no one else can."

"Ah"

"I heard Miss Cortana call you some kinda military rank. Master Chief?"

He nodded." Most just call me Chief for short."_ And I am really getting tired of it._

"Well, if it's fine by you, I'll just use that Chief. Gimme one minute to get back up there and finish weldin this plate down."

John glanced up, and asked in his gravelly deep voice. "Need a lift?" He suspected she would probably fall again trying to get back up there.

Kaylee's infectious smile broke out over her face again.

"Sure!"

John bent down and basically hugged her legs before standing back up.

"Oop!" Came out of her mouth, but she gripped the welding tool, and got back to work immediately. John held her there with one arm, and she weighed almost nothing to him.

After a few minutes of sparks and scraping sounds she chimed out, "All done!"

He placed her down again.

"Lets go find something to eat!" The positive energy came of Kaylee in waves. John found him self almost unable to hold back the grin. He managed it, but only just. It also dawned on him that she was extremely talkative, and curious. Never before had he been asked so many irrelevant personal questions. Nothing had mattered if it didn't pertain to his health, training or mission. What he found amusing, was that he had to think about the answers for a moment before voicing them.

"Yer awful tall. Niska's men aren't near as big as you."

John held back a snort of laughter. _If only she knew…_

"Is it weird bein that big 'round everyone?"

John rubbed his hand on his chin. He had stubble that needed to be shaved. "Um, no. All of us are tall."

"Who's us? The other Spartans?"

"Yeah" _What did Cortana say to them about before I woke up?_ Not that he was worried she would reveal classified information. It wasn't in her protocols. He would just like to know how much this crew was aware of. There was no need to reveal too much information.

"Ya know you don't look half as intima'datin without that armor on. Though that expression might do the trick."

"Oh. I never really noticed. People don't recognize me out of my armor." He offered more than just a blunt answer that time. He didn't want to come off as laconic and rude.

The kitchen area was only a short walk down the hall. John would have taken it in two strides, but Kaylee was walking ahead of him and her legs were significantly shorter. The common area that housed the small kitchen was decorated in an odd way. The ship seemed outdated to him again. There was storage crates stacked up against the wall and held in place with cords. Kaylee popped off the top and rummaged through one for a moment. She pulled out a foiled coated package and tossed it at him. He caught it with ease. She whistled.

He was happy his reaction time was coming back.

"Ya like dried fruit? We got plenty of it."

John nodded and looked at the package. It read : DRIED APPLES

He tore the package open and inspected the first piece to be pulled out. It didn't look bad, or taste bad when he finally popped it into his mouth. He was used to eating preserved food. Fresh wasn't always available on the battle field.

"I'll get ya som'thin more substantial in just a jiffy. I usually make breakfast for everyone. Don't trust the Cap'n near the stove, an Jayne'll munch on cardboard if you tell him it's stale bread."

"Isn't Jayne a girls name?"

Kaylee laughed. John shrugged. It wasn't the oddest name he'd ever heard of for a man. Didn't matter much anyway. He looked around again, and thought about his situation.

Here he stood, in the middle of what could be considered the mess area of an odd, probably outdated ship, in the black body suit of his MLJONIR armor. An overly perky, cheerful, _kid_ covered in mechanical grease was making what ever form of breakfast chow there was while he was standing eating dried apples of an unknown age. Going over every memory in his head, John could not think of anything quite as strange as this. Deadlier, without a doubt, but nothing as strange.

He caught his reflection off a pan, and realized he not only needed a shave, but a haircut too. He estimated the time and guessed he probably had another forty five minutes until everyone else was due up. Then he would worry about speaking with the Captain and Cortana.

His attention snapped back to Kaylee instantly when she asked him another question.

"Did you grow up on Earth that was, or is, I guess? Are you from there?"

He took a second to think about what to put into his response. There was a lot of information that could answer this question. There wasn't a chance he would reveal all of it, considering a lot was classified.

"No, I grew up on a planet called Reach."

Kaylee looked as though something had dawned on her.

"Ohh. Cortana told us a mite bout the war yall were fightin, an what happened to all the planets….I didn't think your's was one- I'm sorry."

Despite the sharp ache of guilt and grief in his heart, John kept a straight face. "It's fine. You were not aware of that fact."

She smiled, looking relieved. "So how'd you guys get to other planets any ways? Did you discover more worlds in the system after the great exodus?"

John wrinkled his brow, trying to figure out what she meant. _Great exodus? The only record of anyone leaving Earth in large droves before the discovery of faster than light travel, or other worlds was the first separatists._

"No. Faster than light travel was utilized."

Her face was truly in awe. "WOW. I knew you guys were advanced after talkin with Cortana, but you discovered FTL travel? "

"I was not born at the time…" It was very odd speaking on such casual things for him. He didn't feel like reviewing the contents of his extensive physics courses with Deja either. Now he had an idea of how outdated their technology must be.

The dulled pain across his body reminded him he was still recovering. Annoying pain spiraled through his skull. Sitting down seemed like a good idea. He reached up and rubbed his forehead right where the scar was on the left side.

"Ughh, Jayne you jerk."

John shifted his eyes onto her again. Kaylee was crouched down reading the labels on the crates.

"What kind of a _Sah Gwa_ would put the spice crate on the bottom?" She stood up and tried to shift the top crate. It looked heavy and she struggled.

"Do you require help?"

"Um, yeah. Never was much of a heavy lifter. You don't haveta. Being all injured and stuff, not that I think you can't or anything. You look like it wouldn't be an issue."

He felt the corner of his mouth go up into a grin again. Strange as she was to be around, it was impressively refreshing. The Marines and ODST's tended to have more sarcastic, foul, and negative humor and demeanors. Kaylee was a direct opposite. You couldn't help but like her. She was just so…_pleasant_. Well, would be, once he got used to her. The kid had an innocence to her that was admirable and possibly annoying. He wasn't sure yet.

John placed the now empty food packet on the small kitchen island and moved over towards her. He bent and gripped the storage units that were in the way and lifted them with ease. To him, they might as well have been filled with shredded paper and feathers.

The bouncy mechanic stared for a moment. "Oookay."

She slid out the one she needed, and John put the stack back down.

* * *

Well it was certainly an interesting way to start off her morning. Kaylee had woken up early to finish up the wiring job in the engine room. The strange guy they rescued and thawed from the derelict popped up the door way, scared her so bad that she fell off her work perch and he caught her. After a mostly one sided conversation, she started to decide she liked him, even if he was extremely odd.

But Kaylee could like just about anyone that was willing to like her. The Cap'n often told her she was too nice for her own good, considering the cold, harsh verse they lived in.

They guy looked awfully strong, and only proved her theory moments ago. He made Jayne look wimpy. But he wasn't nearly as brash or crude, or mean spirited. The entire time she talked his ear off he answered her politely, albeit briskly, and wasn't once rude or cold. She couldn't help but have a little bit of pity. The mechanic couldn't imagine what this guy must have been through, or what it felt like to be in his current position. She had felt the same way bout River. He reminded her of Zoe though, because he was so obviously military he might as well be wearing a neon sign on his head. Zoe was more friendly too. He had a nice face though, even with all the scars. It was hard to imagine that face as one of a hardened solider at the moment.

He had taken a seat at the table, and was inspecting Simon's work in an offhand manner.

All the supplies taken off the wrecked Alliance ships gave them a bounty of goods to work with. It was nice having something other than molded protein to eat. Fruits and meats could be dehydrated, and they would be able to afford fresh fruits on Persephone once Karyn paid them. The way the Cap'n and Zoe talked, it would be another pay off like Ariel. She cooked up a quick meal, and didn't forget to add the spices like Shepherd Book had taught her. She thought fondly of him for a moment when she held the rosemary.

The crew didn't eat together like they used to. After the incidents surrounding Miranda, it just didn't feel the same. Dinner time, Kaylee would pull everyone together even if it was just for a half hour. Breakfast everyone would eat and run, and lunch they were on their own.

The small room smelled good, and Kaylee was humming again. She was putting some sausage patties and eggs on a plate when she noticed the Chiefs eyes dart to the corridor leading towards the crew dorms and cockpit. There wasn't any noise…..until she heard one of the ladder hatch doors opening. _How'd he hear that?_

After a few footfalls that failed at being stealthy, Wash tip-toed into the room. He was buttoning up one of his Hawaiian shirts. She looked at him.

"Weren't you at the controls all night?"

"Uh, no, not decidedly. I took a few hours with Zoe. Don't give me a look Kaylee dear, you really think I would leave _Serenity_ without a pilot at the helm in fed territory? Do you think me so dumb? Don't answer that."

Kaylee laughed. "Who's up there? Cap'n?"

Wash cringed a little. "Noooo,… River?" He waited for a bad reaction. But it didn't come.

"You think she can fly Serenity?"

"Kaylee, she's a bonafied super genius."

The mechanic didn't look convinced.

"Yes she can fly it."

"Ha-ha. I'm just rasal'n ya Wash. Food?"

"Yes? Quickish though, or Mal might get all menstrual on me if he finds out."

They chuckled. Kaylee glanced over at the Chief. He was sitting quietly, observing them. A bit of white bandage stuck out of the collar of his suit, and he ran a finger over it silently. When she'd filled a second plate up for Wash, she handed him both.

He looked curiously at them, wondering who the second was for.

"Now don't go tell'n Jayne I waited on you guys."

"Guys? Who else is here?" The pilot swiveled around and scanned the room. He jumped a little and nearly dropped the plates when he spotted the Spartan sitting at the table.

"_Shun Sheng Duh Gao Wahn!_"

The Chief looked at him casually.

"Ya know between bounty hunters, River, Reavers, Parliament Operatives and you, I'm gorram lucky I haven't pissed myself yet. Why must everyone do the startling thing? Can't we all just walk plainly? _Ta Ma Duh_."

Only adding to the moment, the Chief said bluntly in his deep gravelly voice, " I made no effort to conceal myself."

Wash walked over to the table, trying to conceal his good natured grin. "Now he talks! When did you regain consciousness?"

"Thirty eight minutes ago."

"Chief's been keeping me company."

"Oh." Wash added. "Did the doc patch you up right?"

"Yes." The Chief hadn't moved from mostly one word answers. The pilot placed the plate in front of him, and he offered his thanks. It reminded him of chow food, and tasted just fine.

The pilot shrugged, and shifted in his seat before beginning to practically shovel the food in his mouth. Kaylee grinned.

"Nice table manners _Lao Sheong_."

"Only in an effort to impress." Wash laughed.

* * *

The pilot seemed rather undisciplined to John. Any kind of insubordination like that would never be allowed in a military setting. However, the more he was around the crew; the more he started to think they were like a family. It explained the feeling on the ship.

He wasn't one hundred percent yet, and could think of worse places to be at the moment. At least no one was pointing a weapon at him, yet.

He finished his food before Kaylee and Wash, and thanked her again for it.

John's ears picked up the sound of another person. They were barefoot, and barely audible. Had there not been a pause in Kaylee and Wash's conversation he wouldn't have heard it. He looked up at the corridor entrance again.

Almost melting out of the darkness was the doctor's sister. The strange girl instantly caught Johns eye's with her own. She spoke.

"Captains waking up."

Wash moved away from the table with surprising agility and grace. "And that would be my stage queue." He snatched a biscuit off the table, and walked back wards towards the bridge. "I was never here…" He wiggled his fingers in an attempt to look mysterious, and then took off.

River glided over to the cooking area, her eyes wide, knowing more than she should. That was the feeling John was getting. Long ago he learned to trust his gut. However, the girl said nothing else. She grabbed a piece of bread and disappeared down the hall.

* * *

Mal rolled over in his bunk, and slammed his elbow into the wall. The pain shot up his arm, and it took considerable will power not to yell. Why did he let Zoe and Wash have the big bunk? He was a mean, heartless Captain and should start acting like it. He rubbed away the pain in his arm and groped blindly for his cloths. They where somewhere in the dark room. Might be a good idea to get a night light soon. When his hand reached a familiar pile, Mal sat up groggily.

The Captain of Serenity slowly pulled on each piece of clothing running over the recent events in his mind. His mood was not much improved from before he went to sleep. He wanted a lot more straightened out before they reached Persephone.

Karyn had sent a wave to him shortly before the crew turned in for the night. Badger had found out she was operating on the planet at the moment, and he wasn't happy. The weasely little _go se_ was a peck territorial. Karyn wasn't scared of the little turd. That woman had more man and fire power to back her up than most anyone, including Niska. She could also kick Badgers ass from one end of the Eaves Down docks to the other with her bare hands.

But Badger wasn't aware Mal had been doing jobs for her for the past year now. Karyn Whelan was the daughter of one of Mal's old Master Sergeants. She had been a Warrant Officer in the War and a hell of a skiff pilot. The fiery, determined, and aggressive red head was the spitting image of her father, and had always considered Mal something of an uncle. For that he was decidedly thankful. He wasn't over much fond of the hurt she could put on someone, and determined it was better that way.

Karyn had the charisma to maintain a large following of loyal ex-independents, and the wisdom to know how to use her resources. She would have been a fantastic career soldier had her side not lost. A fellow Shadow native and volunteer, her and her father fought till the very end of the war on Hera. Now she had her own smuggling empire, complete with what was rumored a fleet of ships hidden somewhere in the Rim. The part about the ships had to be rumors though. Mal was aware however, of two she owned. One was a small, decommissioned medical cruiser from the war, called _Tearmann._ The other was an Eagle class personal transport class named _Saoirse Rogha._

For the life of him he couldn't figure out what any of that meant. But they were going to meet her and her main crew at the docks by morning. An early start. Everyone should be in a right good mood then.

Very faintly, Mal was almost sure he could hear Kaylee's cheerful, chipper laugh. That girl _would_ already be up. He stumbled around looking for his boots. He stubbed his toe, and found them under his posterior when he sat on the ground to nurse the hurt.

His mother would have smacked his mouth if she ever heard him speak the language he used right then. She wouldn't stand for him not acting civilized. But that was a long time ago….

It figured that flipping the light switch would be the last thing he'd get to before heading out. He would definitely be sleeping with it on till he got a night light. When he climbed up the ladder, the smell of breakfast hit his nostrils something powerful and his belly growled in response. Kaylee was most definitely up and moving around. She was talking to someone too. Mal considered going to the bridge first, but the under current of coffee that seeped into the already tantalizing aroma in the air was too much. He wanted his morning jet fuel.

He walked up to the door way. "Well ain't this a nice way to start a day that I just know is gonna go smooth. I smell coffee. What's gone broke in the engine room?"

Kaylee tried to look appalled. "Now how can my Cap'n think something gone wrong just cause I made coffee?"

Mal raised his brow. "Do you do it regular like?"

"No."

"Somethin broke."

She rolled her eyes. "_Fei Hua. _I'll have you know I finished the wires up and pretty.

Mal grinned his lopsided grin and wobbled more than walked down the steps. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move. When he turned his head he noticed an unfamiliar mans face. It was an impassive, observant face with a strong jaw line and handsome features. Brown eyes and an intense stare met his own gaze. White scarring marred the chiseled appearance, and it took Mal a second to realize he was looking at the Master Chief without a helmet or armor. He could have taken a step back in surprise, but instead just muttered, "Huh."

The Captain moved towards the kitchen and the coffee pot, but kept talkin. "Morn'in."

The Chief responded with, "Morning Sir."

Mal was nonchalant. "I have the notion yer gonna be like Zoe and all proper responsive like."

"Possibly"

Kaylee moved past him and yanked at his hair. "Nice 'do there Cap'n"

Mal looked and caught his reflection. His hair was sticking out at odd angles. He grinned, only making himself look goofier.

"Oh it's all the rage. I'm making a fashion statement here Kaylee. Don't be bringing yer downtrodden jealousy on over it." The mechanic giggled and gave him a nudge. Mal beamed. He always enjoyed harassing her. He thought of Kaylee like a little sister or daughter. Something he might have had. An awful over protectiveness came right with it.

"Cap'n, Serenity needs parts, bad. Ain't no jury riggin it anymore neither."

"Alright. We'll see what kind of pay-off we get from Karyn. Should be enough to patch us good, and get everyone paid. You might ought to be able to gain yerself some new frippery."

"If only I had a place to wear it." She raised her eyebrows at him, in a reminder of the last time a dress was involved.

"Well, that would be up'n to you an the Doc." He took a huge gulp of coffee. A stimulant might not be good for his nerves if the possibility of dealing with Badger was in the mix. What did he care though?

Kaylee poured a cup and walked off to the bridge, presumably to Wash. Mal figured he might need a cup after being up most of the night. When she was gone, the obvious conversation that needed to happen could happen.

Mal walked over to the table, and sat a seat down from the other man in the room. He wasn't shy about happenings on his ship. Since he was captain, he spoke first.

"Doc said you'd need a while before you were up a hundred percent. Didn't think you'd be up this quick."

The response was so generic and expected, it could have been scripted. "I'm a fast healer."

The Captain nodded. "I reckon you are, and would know a mite bettr' than anyone of us."

The Spartan nodded in return.

"So I'mma cut right to the chase here. What exactly do you think yer planning on doin? My crew is involved now and I want to know."

The Chief sat back, looking Mal dead in the eyes. "My mission is to establish contact with the UNSC, report my status, and order a pick up for us."

"You and Cortana?" Mal asked, waving his free hand.

"Correct."

"And how do you plan on doin that?"

John paused for a moment. The Captain had a point. The remains of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ were all but powerless. He had to find a place to send out a powerful broad encrypted signal.

"I need to send out a message. Broadcast it far. There might be some technology on the remains of the _Dawn_ that would help." _The slip space engines…_

"I'm guessin yer thinking of askin me an my crew?"

"No. I was going to inquire about the local government and military force. I won't make and decisions until I've briefed with Cortana." John noticed something. When he mentioned the government, a shadow grew over the captain's face instantly. _That was something to take note of…_

"Don't know if contactin the government is a rightly good idea."

"How so?"

"I'm assuming yer familiar with the meanin of totalitarian?"

"Of or pertaining to a centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises doctorial control over many aspects of life. Exercising control over the freedom, will, or thought of others."

"Soldier and a human dictionary. Alrighty then. Well that's them, the Alliance. They'll lock you up, and extract every nano of information as they can lay paws on. Purple belly good fer nothins."

"Past experiences?"

Mal squinted in surprise. He wasn't expecting that one. Or maybe he was. "You could say that. Governments are only good fer getting in a mans way."

"I have to disagree on that." The Chiefs face was stern and unwavering. Mal raised an eyebrow, and his appearance deadpanned to serious.

"I suppose we will, an' avoid that topic for the sake of perpetual peace on my boat."

"Of course Sir." John didn't budge an inch. The tone carried a sarcastic note, that was almost patronizing.

Mal relaxed a little. "Well, at least we can both find that agreeable."

"Captain Reynolds, I am not above asking for your assistance. I would not be here if it were not for you. I have no intention to bring about any danger to you or your crew. If this section of space is devoid of covenant, which is seeming more and more likely, there should be no reason for conflict."

"I take it those fellers don't have too much of a like'n for ya?

"They call me the Demon."

"I'll take yer word for it. Cortana showed us some interesting footage."

"I'm sure."

"So I've taken it in my mind to help the two of you out. The Verse knows I'll probably regret it a few times 'long the way. But, you could like say yall hit my soft spot, had I one."

Jon cocked an eyebrow ever so slightly. Mal continued.

"I fought a war some years ago. Stood up fer what I believed in an all that. So there a strand of understand'n in me a bit."

John's face was chiseled stone. However, his mind was buzzing with each piece of information he picked up. His suspicions about the captain had been confirmed. The man was a war vet, which explained a great deal about his demeanor and concern for his crew. Most likely an NCO of some sort. The same thing had been seen out of the marine sergeants. Johnson crossed his mind.

"I'mma goin to do what I can to help you. Thought bout it some last night. We don't got skill or tech on board to do mucha nothing for ya. But I know someone who ought be able to open doors. "

"Thank you Captain."

"Don't thank me yet. We don't know what the future holds, and I'm not rightly sure as can be done fer ya yet."

"I've dealt with the unexpected more than once in my life Captain. I'm sure I'll manage."

"I'm sure you will." Mal studied the guy in front of him again. The face beneath the helmet was a intense one, that could be easily menacing. Even out of the armor, this guy was a tank. Mal didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so big. He was contemplating what the Chief was physically capable of again, when he was startled by a question.

"Why?"

"Pardon?"

"Perhaps I'm being overly cautious, but I want to know why you have any inclination to assist me. You know nothing of where I come from. I have nothing to offer you. " John kept his face totally still. He knew what kind of a crew this was. Illegal salvage, living off what ever jobs are offered. The UNSC had many sanctions against such actions, and the police force to back it up. That was before the war at least. These people apparently had no idea what the UNSC was though. He had his suspicions… but they would have to wait till he spoke with Cortana again.

The captain looked thoughtful for a moment. "It wouldn't be the first time we've picked up strays. Truth be told, I'm in a good mood. Got a good haul in today. I'm not gonna lie though. If this gets too burdensome, we'll drop you somewhere."

John raised his eyebrows only a fraction. He didn't answer though. He'd been in worse situations, and come out on top. No one was firing on him either.

After seeing the ship, and their responses to a smart AI, John wasn't all the impressed. The tech was primitive compared to what he was used. This was good for his safety, somewhat. But it was bad for communication with the UNSC.

Light was coming through the windows of the common area now. Mal looked up, inhaled and exhaled heavily before he spoke. "We'll be land'n on Persephone soon. Got peck'a business there. Ain't sure you should venture off ship just yet. Doc'll wanna see ya, when ever Lord 'Font Laurie decides to wake up."

The ship lurched, and Mal caught his balance on one foot. A small bit of coffee splashed over the edge of his cup.

John watched the captains face take on a perturbed expression. "WASH?! What in the sphincter of hell was that? You better not crash my boat!" He took off for the cockpit.

John followed him with his eyes until the corridor swallowed the man's form. Malcolm Reynolds was an interesting man.

* * *

She had heard everything. Cortana was deeply imbedded into _Serenity_'s computer systems. All night she had learned everything possible about the crew, and this new system. At the same time, she could hear everything that happened on ship though the PA and comm systems. Reynolds was an incredibly observant man. Cortana watched every movement, every flick of his eyes. It reminded her of John. She recalled when he had cut power to the Companions shuttle, thus rendering the conversation truly private. He was suspicious, she knew it.

She listened in on the crews interactions, and studied their behavior. The best way she could describe them, was like a dysfunctional family. Everyone onboard seemed to serve some kind of purpose, except for the girl, River.

Now River was interesting. She spoke oddly, almost in riddles. But if one looked closely, the riddles had meaning. At one point during the night, Cortana had picked her up on the audio directly outside the small room John was sleeping in. River had whispered, so low it was hard to pick her up, "Even angels sleep." Between that, and the subtle comment which she believed tipped Reynolds off as to her presence in the computer systems, Cortana was determined to learn what made that girl tick. There was no way she could have known the AI was monitoring the entire ship through a systems hack. It was impossible, unless she had a form of neural implant. However, Cortana detected no signal of such a device.

The meaning of this was puzzling. This girl knew nothing about John, so how could what she said possibly have any relevance? The AI made note of this, and stored it away in the new set of files she'd recently created. She had to convince herself the jealousy experienced earlier was simply a glitch and nothing to worry about. Cortana knew she was in the time period when smart AI's like herself began the decent into rampancy. Caution was the word here. However, she logically concluded she would know when the rampancy was tightening its iron grip. Until then, her main focus would be to protect John, secure as much data as possible, and find a way to contact the UNSC. Knowledge was power, and she would use every bit of it she could gather to safely deliver John back to Earth.

She would not break.

The first place she dove into was the cortex. It seemed nothing more than a more intense version of the internet. Depending on the area, it was more secure, or loose. One could connect to anything through the cortex, including government files.

The cortex was a wonderful tool, and she almost laughed at how easy it was to hack into. She wasn't sure exactly where to start. There was so much new information. She located the access points for the government sources and noted them. They were secured, and it would take a moment to break into.

For now, a trip to another topic would do, preferably something that would shed more light on their current situation. After exploring freely for a minute, she found a dedicated source for a college of history. What she discovered fascinated and shocked her. In fact, it confirmed exactly what she had thought in the beginning. _These people have absolutely no idea where their civilization really came from. _

She studied the history, and learned of the war between the Alliance, and the Independence. It was bloody, and lasted quite a bit. The Alliance called for the unification of all the planets under one rule. The Independent faction fought against it, and fiercely at that. Something that caught her interest was that the whole of the Independent army was volunteer, why the Alliance had to instate a draft…._hmmmm._

There were numerous other recorded incidents that she found interesting, including one about a planet call Miranda. It seems someone did their best to erase everything possible about it from the cortex. Clearly they had never expected something like her. She followed the electronic footprints, and was intrigued at the findings.

So much information. So much to tell the Chief.

The technology for these people was also quite limited in comparison to the UNSC. They had no form of accelerated transportation. Slip space hadn't even been discovered yet.

It was also completely devoid of covenant influence or presence, which would account for the relative 'peace'. These people wouldn't last one battle against the prophet's armadas…

Overall, other than ignorance of the truth, or the importance of the man they had just brought onboard, Cortana concluded none of _Serenity_'s crew was an immediate threat. They might even be helpful.

That night, or what was considered night, River had sat at the controls. Cortana had expected her to speak, or ask questions. The girl did nothing of the sort. When she left the regular pilot, Wash, ran in and jumped in his seat. There was a biscuit stuffed in his mouth. They had glanced at each other and shared a laugh.

She liked his good humor and positive disposition.

When the Captain ran in yelled something about the ship crashing, she almost laughed again. Humans were a truly varied race.

* * *

Mal fixed a pointed glare on his pilots back. Wash was decidedly trying to crash the ship, he was plumb sure of it. He glanced over at the AI. She was glowing a soft indigo color, and watching them curiously.

"Good Morn'n"

"Good Morning Captain."

"Wash, send a wave to Karyn, let'r know we'll be land'n."

Wash reached up to fiddle with the controls. "What time ya want me to tell her?"

"Bout nine-ish. Gimme some breath'in room. Got lots to do. Wanna avoid the weasel too."

"You mean Badger?"

"Yeah that. He's only good at making things more interesting for me, 'an I don't care for things to get interesting."

"I imagine he's quite grumpy after you left him stranded, not to mention-"

"I 'member my actions quite vividly, thank you."

Zoe strolled in, fully dressed, hair hanging long and loose. She hugged her arms around Wash's neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not this crap again. I'm makin ship-board romance against the rules."

They both laughed at him. Mal frowned.

"The big feller still in the common area?"

Zoe raised her eye brows. "Didn't see him sir."

"That's a re-occurring theme with that guy." Wash chuckled.

"Hmm." Zoe scrunched her eyes slightly in thought. She didn't like the idea of not noticing someone. She was gifted with stealth skills, and knew they could be the key to survival. It also took some skill to get by her.

"You mighta missed him. I told him let the doc look at him again before we land."

"You gave him an order?" Cortana asked.

"I'd call it a polite suggestion."

"Uh huh. You make polite suggestions often Captain?"

"Every day of my life." Mal smiled wide and sipped his coffee at the AI. Cortana chuckled.

"So sir, is it going to be polite suggestions you give Badger when he finds out we're dealing with Karyn.?"

Mal looked up attempting to appear innocent. "No. That will be threat of bodily harm." He gave his first mate an incredulous look. "How could you mix the two up?"

Zoe smirked. "My apologies sir."

"My wife gets kooky sometimes, forgets where she is, who she's talkin to. I suffer in silence cause I love her."

"I can make you suffer more." She said, looking over her shoulder at him. Wash smiled.

"Ooo, I'm intrigued."

"Hey. Fly my ship! What in the hell I pay you for?"

"My witty banter and unique perspective on the verse?"

"And Jane's not fond of Doxy's." Mal rebutted sarcastically. They all laughed. Zoe shook her head.

"If we pull port and you don't grab him…"

"Well I like to up the business a bit 'fore we get to the pleasure…. So to speak." He made a face at the choice of words. His first mate put her hand on her husbands shoulder.

"It'll be good to see Karyn again. We're not off loadin planet side are we sir?"

"No. We got no short of feds an Badger here. Lil feller's already a mite ornery and just a peck all-fired pissy at me. Like a rapid little Chihuahua." A chuckle passed though the room. "We're talkin, dealin, and getting half our coin. For now."

Cortana sensed the incoming signal. The pilot fiddled with the controls a little more, and a woman's face popped up in the monitor in front of him. She looked to be in her thirties, with a pleasingly angled face and wavy red hair. A wide grin spread across the face when she looked at who was on the other end.

"Wash! I'm happy to see yall. Uncle Mal there?"

"Yeah, he's standing in the back with a coffee IV calling us wipper snappers."

"That sounds like the old man."

"I reserve that right to be take'n cracks at my years!"

"We'll meet you at the Eaves Down Docks. This shouldn't be taken no longer than 'an hour. "

"Alright Karyn," Wash laughed," We'll see you planet side." He switched the cortex off.

Cortana continued to assemble information from the previous connection.

Mal started to walk out. "I do believe she's gonna hit me, _real_ hard."

"I concur sir."

"Well maybe you should do something bout it. Ain't the first mate supposed to have my back?"

"Sorry sir, that's just too funny a spectacle to be passin up."

Mal was in the corridor when he said, "It's near as good as when she's beat'in Jayne from one side'a the port to the next." They all laughed again.

* * *

The more Cortana learned about the crew, the more she was interested. While they had been sitting there engrossed in conversation, she had taken a second to perform a hard search of the cortex for each one of them. The results were as varied and interesting as the crew it's self.

All of them were technically fugitives, all though the government wasn't putting as much effort into the hunt as they could. The pilot was working a job that was far beneath his skills, functioning for an ex-independent soldier and married to another. The mechanic was nothing more than a country bumpkin with almost nothing to her record and the merc was wanted for questioning in several homicide cases and a theft in Canton. The brother and sister were two of the most wanted people in the system, for reasons unspecified.

She would have to dig into that later. Currently she started a search for this Karyn woman and the man they were calling Badger.

_So much data….. I can't take it all right now…the UNSC has to know.. We found the survivors of the first great separation…_

_I need to speak with John as soon as possible….._

* * *

Wash watched the AI silently turn different colors out of the corner of his eye. He had no idea what it might mean, but took note of it for later. Landing at the Eaves down Docks took skill. Even the most experienced pilot could have trouble with the overly chaotic layout. Course all the poor folk were jumbled right up in there with the landing ships and street vendors. The rich usually had their own private airfields.

Wash put all of his concentration into his work. Like a leaf on the wind, _Serenity_ floated down gracefully. The seconds hung in the air and seemed to last forever until a final jolt told them all touchdown was complete.

"Nice work." Cortana offered.

Wash grinned. "I try, I try. "

* * *

Inara bumped into Mal on her way back to the shuttle. He looked her up and down quickly, taking in the nice cloths she had adorned.

"Business?"

"As usual." The sarcasm dripped from her voice. Mal raised his brow.

"Well I'd hate to keep you from it Ambassador."

She rolled her eyes. "I haven't worked in almost a month Mal. You need my rent."

"Might not be the case here ina bit."

"I assume you're going to leave me here whilst you engage in your clandestine dealings." There was a playful note in her voice.

"That be the plan. Maybe for a bit longer till I can figure as to what we're gonna do with them strays."

She crossed her arms. "You're not going to strand them and have done with it?"

"How could you think such horrid gorram things? I love helping people."

Inara fixed him with a stare. A snicker was creeping it's way into both of their expressions. The tension between them was considerably lifted since their last conversation. Mal spoke again.

"Nah. I think Imma help 'em. Call it my good deed for the year."

"Good. You know they'd stick out like sore thumbs. It wouldn't be long before the Alliance picked them up."

"And anything as I can do to impede that is alright by me. Though, the unpleasantness that man could make for the feds is rather tempting to instigate. He's a soldier, through and through. Might come in handy till we get'm help or offload."

The ship jolted slightly.

"I have to go Mal. I should have taken off in Atmo" She started to slide past him. The walkway was narrow and they brushed each other briefly.

Mal felt her hand touch his arm, and it sent an electrified shiver through his body. Their eyes met, and made an instant connection.

The moment could have lasted forever. The urge to take her in his arms was overwhelming and Mal had to fight it with every fiber of his being.

Inara felt the tremor of desire and longing run through her. She wanted him to kiss her. Never had she wanted it more. There would be no fight in her now.

Summoning courage from somewhere deep inside, Mall lifted his hands to her small, delicate shoulders and leaned forward slightly.

Her skin was tingling. Her heart beat faster.

Metal crashed on metal below them, and Jayne's vulgar cussing reached an easily audible level. Mal looked down. "You better get going."

She averted her eyes and agreed hastily. The Companion moved past him and glided quickly towards her shuttle. Mal looked over the rail and gave Jayne a dirty look.

"What?" The big merc asked confused.

* * *

Simon had woken up and gotten dressed later than usual. When he made his way to the med bay to finalize a lit of anything he might need from the planet, he didn't notice the 6'10 man sitting on the couches of the common area. John was quietly going through what looked like some kind of data pad. The doctor never noticed him until the man lifted his head.

But Simon didn't startle easy.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better." John's voice was monotone. "The Captain suggested I allow you to check on me."

Simon looked thoughtful for a minute. "Did he say whether or not he's dropping you on Persephone?"

"It wasn't his intention from what I gathered."

"Ah. That means he wants to know if you're ready to do any work or not."

Johns face showed no expression as he stood up. He followed Simon into the med bay again, and the doctor continued to explain.

"Malcolm Reynolds isn't a bad person, per say. But he's not overly charitable either. You have to bring something useful to the table in most cases. For me and River to stay on ship, I patch up any hole they manage to get themselves."

He looked over the burn wounds and changed the bandages. The injuries seemed to be healing better, and faster than they normally should. But Cortana had said that Spartans were different.

"Makes sense." Useless people on a ship were a waste of resources and a possible hazard.

Simon checked the collapsed lung. It would be a few day's till it was 100% again, but it already worked at a better capacity than anyone else's. The guy's vitals ran hot. It reminded the doc of Mal and Zoe's war buddy Tracy, the organ mule.

"I would say you're not ready to be up and moving yet, but I suspect I'd have more luck speaking to a steel bulkhead."

John let the corner of his mouth upturn just slightly. "I'd say you're correct. I know my limits Doctor."

"Alright then, I'll save my breath."

What he had said was true. It was painful for him to breathe still, but not nearly what it was before. The pains he had now could be ignored. His abdomen still throbbed a bit, but he'd been up sooner after worse. Plasma burns didn't even register any longer.

After a few minutes the doctor seemed satisfied and merely stressed he be careful. It reminded him of Dr. Halsey, only she had the authority to enforce it.

* * *

The ship had landed and Mal was already ordering them to pop crates. Karyn would want to inspect the goods first.

The idea of being inactive and useless gnawed at John like a bad itch he couldn't reach. Still wearing the black body suit of his armor, he strode out into the cargo bay.

Mal spotted the Chief instantly this time. The bay was well lit, and 6'10 is just really damn tall.

Jayne scoffed to himself.

John wasn't shy, and walked right over to the captain. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Mal's eye brows shot up. "Yeah. Help Jayne stack those over there, and pop the top one."

"Yeah. Give a hand since we's givin you a free ride."

"Jayne, shut up."

John looked over at gray containers. Instead of lifting one at a time like the guy everyone kept calling Jayne, he knelt and grabbed three, much like in the kitchen with Kaylee. It wasn't even a heavy load for him.

Mal stared, and Jayne gawked. The captain looked at the merc. "Pick your jaw up it's rude. "

Wash's voice came over the speaker. "_Mal, we've got a Karyn, and she be knockin at our door._"

He walked over to the main airlock door and swung it open, then stepped back.

Unceremoniously, in walked a woman of about 5'7 with bright red hair, blue eyes, and a Celtic style weave tattoo down the right side of her face. She had on a predominantly brown outfit with a leather jacket. She threw her pony tail over one shoulder and smiled. It was a cocky grin. The handgun and silencer at her hip was like a stain on an overall friendly image. Confidence oozed off her like an oil.

"Uncle Mal. It's been a couple months."

He smiled in return and accepted the hug she offered. Mal was taller by several inches.

"Don't call me uncle, makes a man feel all old and stuff. " They hadn't separated yet when she landed a solid punch on Mal's shoulder.

"AHH, didn't I tell yall there was some imminent violence towards me a brewin? "

John watched the situation like a hawk, standing next to the crates.

Emerging from the door next where two men. One was pretty tall, standing at 6'5 and weighing probably 250lbs. Muscles bulged out from his sleeves, and his expression was a sour one. He had a rather large gun slung at his side.

The second man was a little under six foot, probably 5'11, or 5'10. He looked to be leanly muscled and wearing a beat up black jump suit and a short brown jacket. His slacks were tucked into his boots, and a hunting rifle was slung on his back. A large caliber handgun sat holstered at his hip, partially hidden by a messenger bag.

What was the most interesting was the front of the bag sported a red cross on a white back ground. The almost universal medical symbol. His face was friendly with large green eyes and a lopsided grin. Several large scars marked his face including across the nose and above his eyes. It didn't take away from his overall handsome appearance. His spiky black hair sat at odd angles.

John got the same impression from the guy that he had from the captain and Zoe. This man had been a soldier at one point.

Karyn looked around at the nearly full cargo hold.

"Quite the haul ya got. Didn't I say fer you to be trustin my tips?"

"You did bring us in some good loot. Plenty more to be got too."

The red head poked around, taking a look at the contents. She made small noises of approval. When she came upon John, standing off to the side, she gave him a once over with appreciative eyes.

"Hey Mal, who's the new guy?"

"A stray we picked up. Useful for moving things."

"Oh like Jayne?"

The merc snorted. "I'm good fer other things. Gimme five minutes and I'll show you girlie."

Karyn raised her eyebrows, but Mall spoke first. "Ya know, I could be yellin at ya Jayne, there might likely be threats. But I don't rightly fear it's necessary. I like to be seeing her put you in yer place."

Kaylee's boots stomped on metal of the catwalks.

"Hey Karyn!"

"Heeeyy, there's a Kaylee." They met and hugged. The cheerful mechanic turned to the guy with the med bag.

"How ya been Rhys?"

He didn't answer, but gave a thumbs up instead.

"Alrighty, we ready to get this going? There's a weasel I'd like to be avoidin."

"Ready when you are."

Mal smacked Jaynes shoulder and motioned to move forward.

"Alright Zoe. _Serenity_'s under yer watch."

"I'll be sure to fly off into the sunset with her sir."

"You do that."

* * *

The Captain left, and John went to the cockpit to look for Cortana. Wash pointed him in the right direction.

At the sight of him, Cortana's avatar brightened. Her attitude was unchanged.

"Hey sleeping beauty. I'm assuming the doctor did good work."

"I'm satisfied."

"Well you look good. Got a minute for a girl? We have quite a bit to talk about."

* * *

The information Cortana had compiled and debriefed him on provoked some serious thought. There was little to no surprise in what she had been able to do and learn. He'd come to expect fantastic results out of her every time.

The issue was how to go about things now that he had this information. Technically, he had been picked up by anti-government fugitives that were the opposite of almost everything the UNSC stood for. At the same time, the government in place could be considered his enemy.

The AI spent a good forty five minutes filling him in on what was the basic current history for the system. It certainly made a few things clearer. He gained more respect for Captain Reynolds as well.

When she informed him of her intentions to break into the restricted areas of the cortex, John warned her to be careful. The technology was not nearly as sophisticated as the UNSC's, but underestimation would be dangerous. The AI's here seemed dumb, but could still be effective in other ways.

With all the new data, contact with UNSC forces was even more important. It was possible he would have to consider other humans as targets. It wouldn't be the first time, though the idea left a strange taste in his mouth.

He was pondering this when he heard noise from the cargo bay. It was something at the airlock doors for a second time, and his sensitive hearing was picking it all up. The familiar gait of Kaylee moved in that direction.

Something wasn't right. He stood up, and brushed his hand over the magnum, making sure it was still there.

His steps toward the cargo bay were silent.

When Kaylee approached the door, it pushed open violently, and smacked her to the floor. Armed men ran in, scanning the bay with weapons drawn. One of them pointed a gun at the mechanic.

Her reaction was immediate and she froze up. Blood started to trickle from a wound in her head.

Walking in with more a saunter, was a short man with beady blue eyes, and wearing a bowler hat. John's impression brought several words to mind, like conniving, and greasy. The man looked like trouble.

"Now where 'as that Captain Reynolds of yers went love? We've got some talkin needs be done."

Kaylee didn't answer. One of the gun toting men charged his weapon threateningly.

John ducked behind a stack of storage units and stole a single look at the situation. There were seven men, six of which held fire arms. If he wasn't careful, Kaylee could end up with bullets in her.

"Whatsa matter? Cat got yer tongue? Well maybe we'll go lookin for some of yer friends." The man motioned, and three of the lackeys moved. One went up the steps and two moved towards John.

He made himself crouch lower, ignoring the tightness in his chest. They walked past, completely oblivious… and John was up in a flash.

The first guy took a pistol whipping to the back of the head. The Spartan was completely silent, except for the sound of bones cracking beneath the magnums handle. He caught the man by the collar, and lowered him silently to the ground. When the second guy turned, John was already on him, grabbing the man by the throat, and crushing his trachea. A small squeak was all that was uttered. In moments he was unconscious.

Kaylee sat on the floor shaking. The guy pointed the gun at her menacingly. Badger started to pace. He yelled at them to hurry up, and then turned to the mechanic.

"I know there's someone here. Always one of ya on the ship. That Cap'n of yours has gotten himself in real mess this time."

_Oh god. Zoe and Wash are up there… Simon and River…_

It wasn't the first time Badger had them all at gun point.

" 'Ey, ya dingo's what's takin so long?"

Kaylee wasn't sure what happened in the next few minutes. There was a sharp _bang_ and blood sprayed from a hole in his forehead. Badgers eyes some how got bigger. The other two pulled up their weapons, but never got to fire. One took a bullet through the eye, the other through the temple. The Chief stepped out, with a large handgun raised. It was pointed directly at Badger.

The weasel didn't move when John walked over and picked up another handgun off one of the bodies.

Someone uttered a muffled yelp from the upper decks.

"Now who in the blazes are you, _Ta Ma De Hun Dan?"_

"Put your hands on your head." John's voice was deep and grainy, but carried a dangerous undertone.

"Who in _Guai _do you think you're speaking to?"

"I don't care. Put your hands up or I'll put a bullet between your eyes."

Apparently Badger believed him. Kaylee stood up and ran behind him. She heard footsteps above them, and the familiar click of Zoe's hogleg.

"Hello Badger."

"Zoe, you stunning woman. Wanna call your new pet offa me, who 'ver he is? I'm chaffin slightly just lookin at 'im, not to mention he killed three of my men, maybe more."

"My heart's a bleedin. I should make you come clean up the lump of meat in the corridor. Think it used to be yer man."

John heard one of the men stirring back where he'd be hiding. He looked up at Zoe and walked back to drag the guy out. When he tried to get up the Spartan slapped his head back down with his boot.

"Now lets go over much with that silly's here. I'm sure we can work this out reasonably, all business like."

"Will someone please shut him up?"

Taking a small amount of satisfaction in it, for John didn't care for the man, the Spartan kicked out and swept Badger's legs out. The mans skull cracked on the metal floor.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. He has an annoying voice."

* * *

Mal walked in on an interesting scene in his cargo bay. Wash sat cross legged on a crate next to Kaylee, who had a bandage on her head, and Simon. Zoe had her hogleg out, but pointed up in a relaxed way. Next to her was the Chief, his foot on a very harassed looking Badgers throat. There was a gun in each hand, one on each man.

Jayne walked in behind him.

"_Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee?_ "

"You got colorful vocabulary Jayne. However crude it may be, the question is relevant. What in the holy hell? I'm all fired fuzzy here as to why Badger and his goons are laid out cross my cargo bay."

"I'm a bit curious my own self Mal, though it's very entertaining to see him eatin floor." Wash offered.

"Zoe?"

"Badger wanted to have a word with you about our commerce with Karyn. Someone finally leaked to him. Seem's he weren't all that happy bout it. Brought guns and interest with him."

"So I'm gathering. And?"

"Chief took out most of them, though there is one dead guy in the corridor up deck."

"Uh huh, that still doesn't tell me why his foot is on Badgers throat, not that I mind. I'm enjoyin it considerable. "

"I wanted him to stop talking." John said flatly.

Jayne and Mal chuckled. "Im likin him more and more. Jayne, get the bodies. We'll chuck'em in atmo."

The big merc grumbled.

Mal looked down at Badger. "You are not to be comin near my ship again ya little rat face _go se_. We were done the last time. I see you again; I'll end you with out a second thought." He grabbed Badger by the collar. The Chief removed his foot, and grabbed the second guy.

"I think it's over due for getting rid of some trash. " He punched Badger in the face, hard. Mal didn't like anyone hurtin Kaylee.

Zoe open the door, and Mal and John threw the two men outside. Everyone else had died. The man with the crushed trachea was pronounced by Simon.

"Wash, get us in the sky."

"What about Inara?"

"We'll pick her back in a bit. She'll be shiny."

"We get paid?" Zoe asked.

"Half upfront." Mal tossed the bag of coins at her, smiling wide. "Things are lookin up."

John holstered his gun, dropped the second, and walked away. He was no longer needed, and there was a lot to think over.

* * *

"So he help'd ya out did he?"

Kaylee nodded her head. "Big time. You shoulda seen it cap'n. One shot each and they was down, after he knocked the other two out."

Mal shifted and crossed his arms. He looked over at his pilot and first mate. "Seem awfully familiar?"

"River" Zoe nodded.

"He's good Cap'n. Better than Jayne." Kaylee insisted.

"Might not be a bad thing as having him. Saved us some trouble today."

"Well what do you make it Mal?" Wash asked.

"Don't know yet. Makin things interesten though. You set course Wash?"

"Ahh, yeah. Why she wanna go all the way out near Lilac?"

"Avoidin feds I suppose. "

"Well, we got a few days till we get there. Everyone could probably take a break. We earned come good coin today."

"Oh my captain, you're so sentimental." Wash gushed.

"I'm gonna slap you hard as a pissed of doxy one of these days."

"_Jing Chai. _I'll be lookin forward to it."

* * *

John sat in the common area outside of the infirmary again, messing with his data pad, and speaking quietly to Cortana. When he heard the footsteps of Captain Reynolds coming down the stairs, he switched the pad off.

The captain looked at him for a minute. "Thank you for helping today."

John kept his face blank, and said, as if it was a normal task, "It's not necessary captain. I'm supposed to protect people. Earth, and all her colonies. I also know that no ally forces their way aboard a ship and points weapons at the crew members. "

"Well you backed up crew. That's not nothing."

"I suppose. I will need to start looking for a way to contact my command Captain."

"I already got on it. That girl as came board today is a good friend to this ship. If there's a way in the verse to make it shiny she'll find it. Gonna have to garner a bit more patience outta you for now."

John nodded his head once. Cortana crossed her arms.

"Your help is appreciated Captain Reynolds. I promise."

"I'll take yer word on that, though the verdict is still out on the value of it."

She flipped her digital hair. "When will we be in contact with this Karyn again?"

"Few days. We're headin out to the Rim."

"Sounds exciting." He tone was dry.

"Just ever so." Mal returned the quip.

For the next few days John kept to himself. He woke up early and ran into Kaylee often. Meal times were where he saw the crew the most frequently. He never got involved in the conversations, and presented mostly one word answers. Socializing was not something with which he was accustomed. The crew was generally friendly though. They kept what seemed like a respectful distance, though he knew it was laced with uncertainty and just a little fear.

He stayed out of the armor, but wished he had something more besides the body suit to wear. Nothing on ship would fit however. He was too large, even for a spare set of Jayne's clothing. Not that the merc would have offered.

That man seemed to have taken a bit of a negative attitude towards John. The Spartan didn't care enough to move past that initial observation though. He decided to use this time to allow for a somewhat normal recovery. Often during the war he could recuperate only a little in-between missions. Battle didn't allow for that.

Every day he did mild amounts of PT, slowly testing his limits. The injuries were healing nicely though. The possibility of a routine was developing.

They were coming up on the coordinates. Mal could spot the small gaggle of ships floating out in the black.

"Mal there's a wave inbound. It's Karyn."

Mal leaned over the controls. Put'r on screen."

Wash flipped some switches and had the woman's face on screen instantly.

"Karyn. We ready to offload all this wonderful cargo?"

"Without a doubt, but something's come up."

Mal's face dropped. Things never went smoothly. "No, No, nothing come up. We're gonna conduct business as usual."

"Nice try Uncle Mal. I picked up a distress call planet side. They're havin some Reaver trouble. "

"Well that's nice for them. I'll be promptly turnin round now."

"I've fought Reavers. It isn't impossible."

"I've fought'em too. En masse. I ain't tryin to do it again. Almost lost crew."

"I'll pay 50% more than our already agreed price."

This caused the captain to pause. Wash watched him intently.

"What are you playin at Karyn? No one that aint leaky in the brain pan goes runnin into Reaver attacks. "

"I've been helping folk out here on the rim for quite a bit now Mal. You've been away from the world."

His gaze darkened. "With good reason." Karyn rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"These people don't have all day Mal. I can't bring all of my forces together in time. Will you help or not?"

He looked from Wash to Zoe. They said nothing.

"Start your approach. You'll be knowin my answer soon enough."

Mal switched off the screen.

"Sir?"

"I ain't deciding for anyone." He grabbed the pa microphone. "**This is the Captain speaking. We've been offered a pretty shiny job. But it involves Reavers, and helping a buncha folk out. I'm not inclined to make this choice for you. We won't be alone. Should you decide you want no part of this I'll have Wash set you down, an we'll like as come back for ya. Fer now, we're heading in.**"

Zoe and Wash were looking at him. "Am I alone in this?"

"And let you fight without me? We'll not have a capt'n sir."

Mal looked to Wash.

"I'm just not inclined to think you'd fly the ship well in a bad situation."

"There's that fear and respect thing again. Why do I not get it? I can be mean"

"Sure you can sir."

* * *

He was laying on the small bed in what was his room, for now. Cortana had disappeared back into her chip, and John was contemplating sleeping. The ship was quiet. He fought to keep his mind from wandering to topics like Sgt. Johnson, Keyes, and his Spartans.

The Captain came over the pa, and made his announcement.

Suddenly, Cortana lit up on her holopad again.

"John!"

He rolled over and bolted upright.

"What is it?"

"I'm detecting the signal of another UNSC smart AI."

"What?" He said dumbly.

"UNSC midrange transport ship, calssification : Falcon. Designation _The River Tam_. On board smart AI Tatsuo making contact."

John stood, holding his breath.

"According to Tatsuo, they crashed on planet recently. They have ten ODST's and two marine pilots assigned. One pilot MIA, the other is critically wounded from the crash. Five man squads from the 82nd led by Sergeants Liam Manning and Kiato Bastogne. Call signs Phoenix and Alpha. Seven of the Hell jumpers, including Sgt. Manning took land vehicles to aid locals. This appears to be exactly where _Serenity_ is going."

She glowed indigo. "Luck appears to be on our side."

"It always is." The Master Chief began donning his armor.

* * *

Seriously, read and review!! Check out my blog. (link in profile) and pic your favorites! Next chapter, the Chief will get reunited with UNSC personnel.


	8. Link Up

First off, I gotta apologize for the super long delay. There were so many factors for it, I'm not even gonna list them. However, here it is, Chapter eight.

I personally don't really like this chapter, but I had to move on to get rid of the writers block. Besides, the study of hospital politics and structure is actually very time consuming. whodathunkit?

I still need to hear who your favorites are! Anon comments on my story and on my blog are enabled so you don't have to login or make an account to contribute. Please, read and review! Reviews are like fuel to keep me writing.

Alrighty, that all I can think of for right now. Hope you guys like this next installment. I own nothing, but my oc's personalitys.

* * *

"Are you injured mate?"

Raines glanced down at the blood dripping from the inside of his thigh. "Scratch."

"Yeah, uh, scratches don't require stitches. That's what you're looking at."

The sniper looked at him. "You want to set up med bay right here then doc? We'll ask the cannibalistic freaks to wait while you work."

"Don't make me shoot you." Leth dug in his cargo pocket, and pulled out a bio bandage. "Slap this on there. I'll get to you when this is over."

The medic rolled off his back into a crouch. Raines was still on one knee when he placed the bandage.

"If I get in to that bloody bank, I'm going to box someone's ears in."

_If I had the ammo, it would be tempting… _Raines thought to himself.

Someone looked out the window at them. Leth gave them the one finger salute. He paused though. There was arguing inside. It looked, and sounded, like Bret's wife was highly upset over something. She kept screeching and pointing towards the two ODST's on the adjacent roof. His attention was drawn to other things however, when the fire of Raines's handgun invaded his ears.

"We can't stay here." Raines scanned the neighboring buildings. "I can get over there."

"Oh god, no. We're supposed to be helping them. If you go, leave your guns."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He shot another Reaver.

"You'll be fine. Might wanna hurry. We've got some friends down there."

"I'm not leaving my guns."

"I don't trust you. Won't it be easier to jump without the rifle anyway?"

The sniper looked at the path he had picked out. It wasn't roof to roof like before. Leth was right. "I'll leave Kate." What was he going to use it for in CQB anyway?

The medic sighed, and Raines could almost hear him roll his eyes.

"If you kill any of them I'm telling mom."

"You're certain? Cooper I swear to god I'll run you down and back over you several times if you're bullshitting me."

"That wouldn't be very Christian."

"I'll repent later. What is the AI's call sign?" _For the love of god give us some good luck today…_

"Sarge, you're going to shit bricks.."

"Who the fuck is it?" He jerked the wheel in frustration. Ross yelped in the back at the sudden direction change.

"It's Cortana… We found them."

"_Are you fucking with me? _By all that I hold dear-"

"I shit you not Sergeant. Tatsuo said they are on one of the inbound ships, and will arrive shortly. The Chief is alive and kicking."

"Then let's make sure _**we**_ stay that way."

"Roger that."

Manning let hope grip him, but not too tightly. He had learned a long time ago that one should always only believe none of what they hear, and half of what they see. Finding the Chief and making sure he was alive and well was only part of the task at hand.

The road was dusty and unpaved. The Warthog made huge dust clouds as it moved. This only attracted the attention of another skiff however. Manning pointed out the third one, and Ross quickly whined.

"I'm not a Spartan dammit, I can only shoot one rocket at a time, unless you'd like me to flatulate at them, though I'm not sure the effect that will have."

"We aren't equipped to survive that biological attack. Just take it out before it takes us out!"

Ross stuffed the rocket in the launcher and whistled a tune, as usual. He aimed, and pulled the trigger. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's JOHNNY!" He sang with delight.

The trail of smoke arched, and collided with the skiff. He moved his rear end around, dancing in the seat, and singing, " Dum dum dum, Another one bites the dust…"

"You are not right." Manning muttered. He contacted Cooper. "Cooper, head towards the bank. Back them up. We'll be there shortly. There's one more skiff I want gone."

"Roger that."

Staccato firing gave the sergeant an idea of their location. It wasn't too far off.

"You got one more rocket left, right?"

"Yep."

"Don't miss please."

Ross feigned insult. "UH! I'm hurt! How could you ever think such a thing?"

* * *

John was quick about putting his armor back on. It felt good to have it pieced back together. He always felt somewhat naked without it. Through sheer determination he did it by himself, and that was no easy task. But years of being in the field tended to make anyone, especially the Spartans, self sufficient.

"Someone's in a rush. Or are you just happy to see some UNSC personnel?"

"Both." John brought the suit online, and checked out the status. It needed some attention, but nothing too serious. It would do, he was sure of it. It wasn't the worst condition his equipment had ever been in.

"Well, don't forget me." She placed her hands on her hips expectantly. He grinned ever so slightly, before sliding the helmet back on. The familiar _hiss_ and snugness of it was comforting. He tugged Cortana's chip out of the holo base and inserted it into the back of his head. The familiar icy cold slid over him, and it instantly felt like old times.

"It's good to be back."

"Let's go see where we stand."

John exited his room, remembering to duck down even further. He was slightly taller in the armor. Heading up the stairs, and making a direct route for the bridge, John began running though his mind, all the possibilities of the situation. Would the ship the ODST's arrived on be flight worthy back to UNSC space? What was the situation like back home? How would he be received by the Helljumpers?

The ODST's had always had issues with the Spartans. It was something that John was not quick to forget. Vivid memories stood out there. He made his way up the stairs and came out into the back hall. He could hear Kaylee in the engine room, and when she called to him, he turned. The usual pause that came with the appearance of the armor settled in air.

She was wide eyed. John recognized it as fear, but it wasn't because of him.

"You gonna go down there and fight?"

He nodded. "The Captain is on the bridge?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Um yeah. He should be."

John said nothing, and headed forward again. A mission was at hand, and nothing would break his focus. His long strides brought him to the bridge quickly. He could hear voices arguing. One belonged to the man they called Jayne, and the other was the Captain. Apparently Jayne was highly opposed to heading to the planet. Whether or not the Captain had changed his mind was not clear, but John would do anything to get down to the planet's surface. There wasn't much anyone on the ship could do to stop him.

The first mate, and the pilot were visible from the door, and Zoe saw him coming. Her face never changed expression, except to raise an eyebrow. The room grew silent when he entered it. Another reaction he had grown accustomed to. No one said anything, and John wasn't in the mood to wait for them to find their voices.

"I need to get down to that planet."

"What lit the fire under yer back end?" The Captain looked him over with cautious eyes.

"The signal of another UNSC AI was detected and contacted. The contact with this AI is my main objective for the moment."

"You…. Got friends on that _go se_ rock?"

"The presence of the AI was picked up by Cortana. A group of ODST's crash landed somewhere not far from your current destination recently. It is imperative I link up with them."

"How in the _Guai_ did you get that?"

Cortana put in her thoughts, and used John's external speakers as a conduit. "You may not be grasping just how superior out technology is to yours Captain Reynolds. Where ever it is you have set your destination, there are seven ODST's involved in possible conflict with hostiles. When we get closer I'll be able to tell you their exact status."

They glanced inquisitively at him after hearing the AI's voice. If they were curious enough to ask any questions, not one voiced them.

"Well good ..for you." The Captain said. It seemed he had nothing else to say. Jayne scoffed.

"Mr. Big and Bad is all eager to go into battle with them Reavers. We'll see how much you like it when we land and you get to meet'em."

John knew this man's type. The UNSC was full of them. They had a tendency to run off at the mouth and bristle at anything or one that could be a challenge for them. Feeding into the bait for arguments was never wise or productive. Instead, he turned his helmet donned head towards the Captain again.

"I have no need for you to land, for me to exit this ship."

Mal looked at him blankly. "Oh…..kay..How exactly are ya planning your exit?"

"Airborne if necessary. How long till arrival?" His voice was monotone. He could have been preparing to do something as mundane as taking out the trash.

"We'll be breaking atmo in five mintues." Wash announced.

"I'll be in the cargo bay." John said in a gravelly deep tone. He intended to collect his weapon.

* * *

"What in the hell is takin place on my ship?" Mal looked to Zoë and Wash. She was silent and he shrugged, looking for the proper words.

"I'll tell you what. You takin in strays again has got us in another situation. Since when did dancing straight into Reaver attacks fit on our gorram list of things to do? Yall don't remember the last time we did this number?"

"I'd be inclined to agree with Jayne, but a lot's changed over the last year. People are fightin back. The Alliance might have tried coverin up what happened on Miranda, but they've put more patrols out on the border and rim." Zoe interjected.

"People out here are tired of getting gnawed on at one end by Reavers and the other by the Alliance. Somethin's gotta give and when they push back it'll be against the first one they stand any kind of a chance against." Wash added.

"No one stands a chance against ruttin Reavers."

Mal never took his eyes off the floor. "We did. The Cordon Virgis colony did, and if reports are to be believed, they won. Heavy losses to be had. This ain't the first I've heard of this neither. Reports do filter in off the cortex, for those quick enough to gobble 'em 'fore the Alliance wipes the system. If there be one thing we should have all learned by now, it's that you never underestimate anyone, specially folk pushed to their limit."

"I give it ten minutes till we're on our target site Mal. Anyone who's going better git. I'm getting another wave from Karyn. She said we've got several ship fulls of men. Three more are about ten minutes out and will break atmo shortly after us."

"Sounds like a plan."

"One we're all too often stuck in." Jayne mumbled.

Mal moved swiftly past Zoe as _Serenity_ trembled with the physical stress of re-entry. "Get ready. There's imminent violence in the foreseeable future." His movement down the corridors was multi-tasked with orders. He wanted Kaylee in the engine room, and Simon on standby for treating the wounded survivors…if there were any. River was nowhere to be seen for the moment.

The Captain paused, and began asking Simon if he had seen the Chief walk by, but a flash of green armor and a gold visor answered his question prematurely. It had come from the cargo bay, exactly where the impromptu passenger had claimed he would be. Mal was curiously reminded of his distrustful nature. He never seemed to take much notice to this before, but for some reason it seemed to traverse to the focal point of his attention. He'd have to consider giving that thought more of his attention at a later time, when guns and death weren't involved.

Master Chief was not the only person in the cargo bay either. Jayne was preparing his array of weaponry on the opposite side. He had kept a distance from the odd soldier, and was still sending predatory scowls in that direction. Light footfalls on the catwalk told Mal that Zoe had entered the bay.

Wash was going to drop them with Karyn's mercs and get the ship out of harm's way. He started to rig up the rip cables. They would slide down and out of _Serenity_, and Wash would never have to land. Clicks and snaps of harnesses came from Zoe and Jayne. Mal looked from the Chief, to the box of equipment the harnesses had been pulled from and shrugged. There was no way he'd fit.

The Chiefs only reaction was, "I won't need it anyway."

Wash came over the speaker. "We're commin up on the mark people. Get ready. It'll be bumpy."

Zoe methodically placed her weapons and rigged herself up. The look in her eyes was cold and focused. Mal shimmied his coat on over the rigging and hefted the automatic weapon Jayne handed him. The larger merc slung his beloved gun, dubbed _Vera_, across his chest and muttered something about them all dying in mandarin.

The Captain could feel the decent through the vibrations, but was distracted because of watching the Chief. The man had made no move to grab any extra weapons from the ships cache, and had settled only for his handgun, and the odd rifle Jayne had become so found of. Mal's curiosity was further peaked when the man simply slapped it onto his back and the weapon stayed put. Must be some kind of magnet system in the armor.

He walked calmly towards the fourth and only cable that had not be rigged up to a harness, and calmly wrapped his hand around it. Mal and the others stood at the ready, faces set. The airlock doors opens, and all was bright and windy.

* * *

Dawkins barreled around a corner, rolling the hog and bringing it upright successively. Cooper wiped sand and grit off of his visor, and Smith uttered curses in the turret.

"Don't do that again man."

"Haha."

They were coming upon the bank once again, and could see the surge of Reavers assaulting the building. Smith wasted no time firing into them, and mowing down dozens instantly.

"We can't stay still, we'll get overrun quick." Dawkins muttered.

"Keep makin passes. Might be able to draw some away too."

Cooper slapped more ammunition into his rifle and cracked his knuckles. Tatsuo and Cortana were in communication with one another, and feeding information back to him. The Chief was alive, and was apparently about to arrive with a small force of fighters. It was almost too good to be true, and it was hard not to chalk it up to just pure luck. He could almost feel them handing him his discharge papers. After this mission the stop-loss would be lifted. It had been a long war, and Cooper was more than happy to put it behind him and move on.

They careened around a corner and thumped over bodies. Cooper was brought out of his thoughts when a snarling and thumps echoed all too closely in his ears.

* * *

Raines had to pick out a less than conventional path. One rooftop over, he was slightly closer to the southern wall of the bank. The buildings sides were not smooth. Stones stuck out at odd angles, and support beams created the perfect ledges and grips. Doc Leth had taken cover behind a smoke stack, but had the rifle ready.

He took several steps back, judging the distance one last time before pumping his long legs forwards. He built as much speed as possible first, and launched his body off the edge. Kevin almost felt as though he was flying. It never lasted though. The feeling of freedom and release always came to a crashing halt when reality(and gravity) forced him back down. He hit the side of the building grabbed for a handhold.

He cursed the armor he was wearing, as it made the going more difficult and clumsy. There was a window not far, and he started to climb towards it. Leth spoke to him through the comm.

"Looking good so far, you nimble bastard."

Raines grunted in response.

Voice's reverberated from inside. He recognized one as the woman that had been pulled up from the basement. She was fighting with someone one. He caught the words 'ladder' and 'help them'. Normally he'd gather all the information possible, but losing grip was a bad issue at the moment. Fear jumped in his chest when bullets pelted the nearby wall.

_Keep moving, _He mentally yelled. The familiar sound of the rifle cracking off a shot told him the Doc had taken something down, or at least shot at it.

The window was close, with in arms reach. The opening was small, and he'd break through the glass going in…

The crescendo of shattering glass drew the attention of everyone in the room. The reaction at seeing one of the individuals in the strange black armor was one of shock. Raines rolled to his feet and drew his gun. He cut right to the point.

"Extend the ladder out _now._"

The room was dark, and strewn with haphazardly thrown items. The man and his family were situated in the corner, and the wife looked as though she'd been face to face with whomever was in charge. That man in question was not as slow to draw as the others.

The pistol was already out of its holster and halfway up when the troopers magnum barked in reply. The bullet ripped through the guys forearm, and passed through the other side cleanly. He dropped the pistol and cradled the injury, shouting in disbelief. Metallic clicks sounded off the drawing of more fire arms. Blood began staining his coat.

Raines repeated himself, ignoring the extreme twist of annoyance at having to do so. "Extend it now, or I'll kill one or more of you."

The woman stomped her foot. "Just do it! Him an the others saved my family, and dammed if I'll see'm shown this kind of gratitude."

The wounded man nodded his head and several others went to move the contraption. Raines hit his comm.

"It's coming Doc."

"And ain't a moment too soon."

The black iron ladder extended. It was a shoddy bridge, but no means of crossing looked better at the moment.

It didn't take long for Leth to crawl in, kicking his med bag forward first. The shorter man tossed Raines the rifle back, and quickly drew the shotgun, just for good measure. He looked around, and snickered.

"Wow. No one's dead. You should get a prize for that."

"Blow me." The sniper responded, grinning through a depolarized visor despite himself.

The man with the bullet wound was not happy. His arm was soaked in blood. The rest of the room still had their fire arms pointed at the troopers. The medic looked over at his partner. Raines could almost see the look on his face. He shrugged in return.

Leth bent down to give the guy a bandage and stop the bleeding. Biofoam fizzed out of its canister with a _hiss_. As he was tending the wound, he asked the man what happened to the Sherriff.

Some one spit chewing tobacco out the window and muttered, " Dead. Got shot 'n left outside. Almos' like yall."

Raines couldn't help be disgusted at the people around him. Their regard for each other was almost nonexistent, and anyone else was just fucked. Poor combat skills and a complete lack of any sort of courage. Natural selection should be allowed to run its course here. The squad had no business interfering, at least not with the adults… kids were a separate story..

_Now I'm just treading into bad philosophical territory…_

That thought process was push aside, and he focused his attention on the gunfire. Men were at the windows firing their guns like children on a fun shoot. His sigh was almost audible. In an unforgiving and downright rude manner, he yanked a hunting rifle out of the wielders hands. The man protested, but was silenced immediately by a "Shut up." from the even tenor tone of the sniper.

Steady cracks emanated from the gun and cut through the air, each one accentuated by the dropping of a body. The rifle was practically a dinosaur: each round had to be chambered by bolt action. But it was an accurate shot, iron sights or not.

A dust cloud several streets down told him were Cooper was. Another pass with the turret would help them out.

"Hey Doc, when you're done patching that cretin, another semi accurate shot would be nice." Raines cracked on the Doc's shooting.

"How bout I semi shove my foot up your ass?"

Leth was actually an exceptional shot. The team just had a habit of harassing each other. He didn't join his fellow trooper though. Loud bangs and crashes could be heard downstairs.

"Oh, sounds like we have guests." He pumped in the new shells and took off for the stairs.

Over the gun fire, screams and explosions, Raines thought he could hear engines. He briefly paused between shots. A glance over the shoulder revealed the stairs to the next floor. He moved to them quickly, within several strides.

The stairwell went right to the top floor and up to the roof. The sniper followed them all the way. The hatch opened, and the roar of engines was louder.

* * *

The white panned out and Mal's vision slowly returned to normal. The landscape of Lilac passed below them quickly. The dry , unforgiving countryside was nothing but a mottled blur. It made him slightly dizzy to stare at it. He re-adjusted his grip on the rope and continued to look out of the hatch, just not at the ground. Jayne was making sure all his weapons were in place. Zoe had a ghost of a grin on her otherwise determined, stoic expression.

At the right of the hatch opening a Reaver skiff crossed into view. A bead of adrenaline pumped into Mal's system. He could feel his heart pound into his chest wall. What could have possibly made him think this was a good idea?

The skiff didn't have too much time to gain ground on them. Mal would have thought his eyes were deceiving him when he saw the vapor trail. It looked like it could be a rocket. When the impact occurred his thoughts were confirmed.

The projectile collided with the cockpit of the skiff. Immediately it careened out of control, and soared over several buildings to finally crash into what looked like a large warehouse. Mal looked over at Jayne and yelled "What did that?"

The large merc shrugged, but the captain felt a heavy tapping on his shoulder. It was the Master Chief and he pointed to a dark spot moving through the buildings, kicking up dust clouds.

The Chief knew the form as soon as he saw it. M12 light recon vehicle, more commonly known as a Warthog. He could spot two people in it with his vision.

"It's good to see UNSC personnel. It's been far too long." Cortana said into his ear.

"Agreed." He practically growled in response. His voice hadn't gotten any better. Cryo without the gel might have done some permanent damage.

Mal glanced over his shoulder at the moving vehicle, and then back to the chief. "Your people?"

John nodded.

_Serenity_ pulled ahead of the moving Hog, and the four people at the hatch could feel it slowing. Mal whirled his hand around his head, and they backed out. At the same time Wash slowed the ship down just enough.

Zoe was the first out, but the Chief surpassed her distance quickly. Weighing around a ton in the armor, he zipped down the line quickly and unceremoniously. Where the others went considerably slower to avoid injury, he slammed quickly into solid earth, quite literally hitting the ground running.

Whatever the people here were fighting attacked him in droves. They fired guns, and several lunged with sharpened knives. He never bothered to hesitate. His shields flared up in the small dust cloud surrounding him, and each of them was dropped with a rapid fire to the head.

Around him more gun wielding people landed out of their vehicles. Some of the ships landed, some dropped passengers like _Serenity_ was doing. It didn't matter though, because the Chief was first.

The dust cloud was visible coming down the road, but that wasn't the only thing that approached him.

It looked human, by all accounts, but it was mutilated and feral. Without a second thought, John dropped it with a double shot to the head. He moved forward and downed two more.

His shields flashed a warning. Something had shot him, and a glance to the right revealed his next target. It was off to side, almost completely hidden. But there wasn't much that could get past his HUD detection.

Mal's attention was definitely caught when a swirling orange tinted aura surrounded the Chief, directly after he was shot. What kind of tech was this guy equipped with?

More than two dozen of Karyn's men had touched ground with them, and started firing immediately. The red haired, bossy woman was with them and carrying a nasty looking automatic rifle. She paused for a moment, taking in the work the Chief was doing. She said nothing, but raised an inquiring eyebrow at Mal.

The weapons began firing in a chorus of bursts. The group stuck together, mowing down anything that came at them. Master Chief didn't want to wait though. The Warthog was moving at them, and his comm clicked on. The deep steady voice of one of the ODST's piped in.

"Master Chief ? This is Sgt. Liam Manning of Phoenix Squad Rescue based off the UNSC _Soto Cano_. Do you copy?"

"Copy Sergeant. It's good to see you."

"We have a visual Chief. Need a ride?"

The Warthog barreled toward him. The Spartan stood right in its trajectory, but at the last minute the driver hit the e-brake and it skidded to halt in front of him.

The group of merc's looked on curiously, but never stopped firing. The vehicle was odd, as were the two passengers occupying it. But the green armored man waltzed right up, unfazed.

He looked down at the two troopers seated and said, "What's the situation?"

The passenger holding the rocket launcher answered." Killin cannibalistic pysco's Sir."

"Quiet Ross. Trying to keep the civilians alive Chief. We crashed a few miles outside of town."

John nodded. "We'll deal with that later. We'll help these people first." He gripped the side of the hog and pulled himself into the back of the Warthog. He noticed the turret was empty, but he could sill fire his assault rifle.

Mal observed the encounter curiously. The Chief spoke with the men for only a moment before hopping in the vehicle. The guys inside were wearing black armor and helmets. They had to be the ODST's Cortana had spoken about. The captains thoughts were interrupted by Cortana's voice snaking in through his comm.

"We're heading right to where the civie's are Captain."

He didn't wan to ask how she got into his comm, but it only added to his suspicions about her. "Fine. Yer funerals."

* * *

The thought of disregarding what his eyes were showing him never once crossed his mind. Kevin Raines had one of the best set's of peepers in the UNSC. So when he caught glimpses of the green armor on the back of the hog, he knew they had completed the mission, if only partially. The Master Chief was alive.

"Doc, we have the package. Manning and Ross have him."

"Holy shit balls, yer serious mate?"

"How often do I jest?"

"Point taken. Then let's finish this joke of a battle and get our bloody arses back to the _Tam_."

Reavers were attempting to flank the building defenders. Raines fired on them, as quickly as the archaic rifle would allow. When one smashed in a window, it was met with a shotgun blast the sniper was sure belonged to Leth.

The waves were more frequent, but not nearly as large, and no less vicious. Every time he dropped one, two more took its place. It was like they were fighting a bunch of grunts, only more dangerous. He barely heard the door moving behind him, and whirled around with the rifle at the ready.

A kid that couldn't have been older than thirteen threw his hands up. _Almost as old as I was….._"Don't shoot me! I brought more ammo!" True to his word, there were two dirty brown bags hanging off his hips. There was also another rifle slung idly on his back.

Raines lowered the gun. "Fine. Can you shoot?"

"Not all that well.." The kid stared nervously into the polarized visor covering the troopers head.

"You load the guns and when I yell that I'm out, hand me a full one. If this is too hard get your ass back inside right now." The kid nodded a silent understanding. _How is it the children in the place have more of a spine than the adults?_

Snarling drew his attention, and he fired three more shots.

"I'm out!"

The kids reaction time was decent, and the freshly loaded second rifle was quickly in his hands. The empty one got passed off. When Raines got up and ran to another edge of the building, the kid was quick to follow. Again, he had at least a grudging respect for the more ballsy youth. The adolescent was doing what he could to help the little crap hole that was his community. The adults were bordering too contemptuously coward like for Raines's liking.

* * *

Bodies littered the streets, though it wasn't just the townsfolk layin around. Reaver corpses sat in the dirt, riddled with bullet holes. Those ODTS's as they had been called, certainly did quite the job, Mal found himself admitting. It didn't take away from the horror that is always left in the wake of Reavers. Just seeing the mutilated corpses of the townsfolk was enough to invoke the rage anew inside him. This was the Alliance's fault. Why weren't they here helping to clean up their own damn mess?

The mercenary force found it making its way towards the bank fairly quickly. The few Reaver ships in the area had been shot down, and it was now just a matter of cleaning out the town. Strength in numbers proved its truth and virtue. Anytime a threat came down upon the gaggle of soldiers for hire, it was cut down with speed. The real fight would be where the rest of the cannibals had gathered. Zoe spotted another of the vehicles the Master Chief had climbed into, cross the street opening ahead of them. It drove past, and fired a large caliber turret rifle at something out of sight. A red spray gave a tell tale sign to anyone paying a bit of attention. Gravel and sand crunched over her feet, and _Serenity_'s first mate maintained a position at the front. She had a personal vendetta against the Reavers. They had almost cost her the most important person in her life over a year ago.

The small town might have resembled a small war zone, but it was a far cry from how people used to behave in these situations. Whole colonies and settlements would be lost to Reaver raids. Since the Miranda wave years ago, people had begun fighting back, and defending their homes.

The sounds of gunfire told them they were close. Sunlight flashed off that green armor once again, and Mal focused on the Chief again. One of the vehicles had become stationary, and was firing into the salivating freaks. The other four were firing, using the vehicles for cover. The Spartan, was a different story. He didn't stay behind on what could have been the front line.

He sprinted forward, cracked one across the head, snapping it's neck with the force of the blow. Then he fired his weapon in short bursts to the torso.

The Reavers fired back, hitting dead on target. Then that orangish aura flared back up, and the Chief acted as though it never happened. The man was a wrecking crew. He plowed through the gruesome raiders like a bulldozers.

The captain glanced around, and took in his surroundings. People were inside the rugged brick building, firing out. There was a hint of movement on the roof, and another guy in the black armor stood up there, firing down onto his targets.

He looked over at Zoe and Jayne. "I almost feel as though we ain't needed."

"Them's good at Reaver killin. Aughta hire'm out to the rim worlds. Make some good coin."

"I guess there never is too much gold for Jayne."

* * *

Something among the already too familiar screams caught his attention. With his long legs, Raines was across the roof quickly. It was the side of the building that had the rigged up fire escape. Reavers had scaled a part of the wall, and broken out one of the second story windows. Through the shattered portal, they were dragging out a teenage boy. The jagged glass shredded his skin and left smears of blood. The Reavers bit into his face, and their nails raked open his flesh. He screamed bloody murder, with tears in his eyes, and begged for someone to help him.

The trooper pumped the bolt action rifle faster than he would have thought possible. He was sure the thing was going to jam. Four dropped, but the kid was already too far out of the window. Hands from the inside tried to late to attempt to pull him back in.

Just as he had predicted, the damned archaic fire arm jammed. He muttered a swear word, and had the urge to smack himself for what he was about to do. The bolt action gun was tossed over his shoulder, and his legs swung over the side of the building.

* * *

Leth heard the kid scream. He pushed his way towards the doors in the back, loading shells into the 12 gauge.

There was no polite, timid opening. They were kicked open violently, and any Reaver standing behind or beyond them was gunned down. More shells were loaded in. He rounded the corner.

"Doc! Get the kid!" He bolted his head up and saw Raines leap down onto the top of the rigged fire escape, three stories up. At the same time, a boy that looked in his teens dropped out of the second story window. The Reavers moved to swarm.

Leth gunned down three, and ran forward.

Raines dropped down to the next level, and then the next in succession with cat like grace. When a Reaver dove for the boy, the sniper dropped a third time, directly on top of it. It felt like something had smacked the side of his helmet with a baseball bat. A vibration ran along the ride side of his head, like someone was carving a line. He recognized it as a bullet. The snarling mass of teeth and sharp implements below him fought to stand. A bullet to the head from a magnum stopped that.

The kid was bloodied up pretty badly, and Leth drug him off by the arms. They barely had a fraction of a second to breath before the alley way was being swarmed again.

_P-p-p-p-p--p-p-p-p-pop. _

"Told you I'd be savin your heathen asses one way or the other." Cooper gave them a thumbs up.

Leth banged on the doors, and threatened to blow it off the hinges if they didn't open up. When they opened in a somewhat safe embrace, he pushed the boy in and shut it. Enough of this spilt up shit. It was time to join up with the squad.

Raines picked himself up quickly, and grabbed one of the automatic rifles from the Reavers corpse. He fired at the freaks, and ran out to regroup. The scene that greeted him was so changed from only moments ago, it was scarcely believable. No sense dwelling on it at the moment however.

* * *

Encounters with the Covenant and Flood had been far worse than anything this place had to throw at him. Whatever these things were might be feral, relentless, and extremely dangerous, but they were still human biologically. This meant they would die like regular humans. Four received bullets to the head, another rushed in close, and got back handed. John could feel his fist sinking into its face as his solid hammer of a hand crushed the flesh and bone together. No need to let that body go to waste. He gripped it up before it hit the ground, and launched the corpse into two other Reavers. The resulting damage could have been considered an improvement on their looks. When he kicked out, his boot connected with another in a sickening wet _crunch_.

It was almost like smacking rag dolls out of the way. Their guns and cruel blades did nothing to Spartans armor. Between John and the seven ODST's, it was a blood bath. These were hardened soldiers, used to dealing with homicidal aliens with superior technology and tactics. This was a chicken shoot, especially with them all together, especially with the chief. Anything in their path was gunned down with a singular ruthlessness, similar to what the Reavers had dispensed to the residents.

The townsfolk were in a sort of shock. They weren't quite sure what to make of the chief. Even more so were they unsure how to process the Reaver slaughter that was happening before them. The ODST's had cut them down, the Master Chief was pulverizing them.

The climax of the battle had been reached, and was running course. Like every battle, story or symphony, it would begin to wind to a close.

Stray shots cleared out the last of the living Reavers. Emerging from the side of the building, were the two ODST's that had previously been defending it. One had a shotgun shouldered, and the other a magnum drawn. A sniper rifle hung off the back of the second. Another went to greet them. John looked on, but his HUD showed no signs of anything hostile in the immediate area.

"Oy, Doc, you guys good?"

"Peachy Coop."

Moving behind them was the force of people that had arrived with the Chief. When a Reaver jumped from the shadows, they dropped it before the thing could ever fire a shot or raise a blade. They spread out and began searching for stragglers. Manning studied them with a quick glance. They were dressed similar to the towns people, only more prepared for a fire fight. Some of them carried impressive looking weaponry, including one particularly disgruntled looking big man.

The Sergeant slapped in new rounds for his rifle, and moved out from behind the Hog towards the Chief. He was no longer the highest rank, and all orders would now have to come from the Spartan realistically, if the man wanted to enforce it.

"Orders Chief?"

The Spartan barely glanced down at him. "We'll pause here. I'm not picking up anymore hostiles. Recharge your weapons, and we'll move soon."

Manning nodded. Before he walked off, one of the group broke away, and was heading towards the Chief. A man and a woman flanked him. Hid long brown coat swayed with each step, showing the guns holstered on his person. The automatic in his hands was at the ready.

The Spartan turned to him.

"Found yer boys, didja?" The brown coat asked.

Manning looked at the Chief. "Allies? Help?"

The Chief nodded, and Manning held his black gloved hand out. "Sgt. Manning, 105th 82nd Helljumpers."

"Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of _Serenity_."

Manning hesitated, his hand almost moving to salute position. Reynolds quickly rectified the issue. "Not military, just a transport ship."

The hand went down. "Transport ships don't usually have armed crew Captain Reynolds, unless it's time of war."

The woman to the side answered. "They do here, if you're smart and wanna keep your ship."

"Fair enough."

"We'll clear out any remain'n Reavers and get all them proper things out of the way in a bit."

The Chief nodded. He had been about to suggest it anyway. The ODST's must have been paying attention. They shouldered their weapons and looked for orders.

"Well, the Sergeant seems friendly enough." Cortana remarked in his ear. John didn't reply. He was slightly wary of the Helljumpers regardless. There was bad blood between them and the Spartans, and he seriously doubted four years had seen a change in that. He charged the assault rifle and hand motioned for them to move.

* * *

Ok, hope you liked it. Don't forget to vist my blog for updates. I haven't posted ina while, but I will soon. I have some OC sketches that need to be put up. ;) Oh, and any questions asked on here, will be answered there if not at the tops of the new chapters.


	9. Making more Friends

Ok, lemme try and play catch up here. My husband came home for mid-tour leave from the middle east, so obviously my attention was elsewhere. I'm not even going to get into the multiple mistakes I've made that I've caught, and you guys have pointed out to me. I'm smacking myself in the back of the head for them plenty, fear not. If I was really any good at this, I'd be published, ya know? *Dreams of working for Wizards of the Coast or Bungie or Ubisoft one day*

Oh, Nammu, read through it again if you'd like. The troopers call Sgt. Manning 'Mom' and Cpl. Leth 'Mom Jr.' b/c those two men are always looking out for everyone else. Thanks very much for your review though. I always read everything you guys leave.

And a big thank you to all my loyal readers and reviewers. You guys are just awesome, and I appreciate it.

Once again, I own nothing but my OC's personalities. If I owned more, I'd be able to afford that 2010 Camero I drool over and dream about.

* * *

The sun wasn't far from setting by the time the town was cleaned out of any living threat. The bodies were piled high: Reavers in a one pile and townsfolk in another so loved ones could claim the bodies. Little comfort it was, as most of the corpses were mutilated. At the very least these people were afforded the emotional comfort of being able to say final goodbyes, and bury their dead. This was something that many from the UNSC could not claim. Planet glassing did tend to be so very final.

This was probably the reason the ODST's found it hard to feel too much pity for these people. Each of them had lost so much during the war with the Covenant, and equally seen enough to drive a man insane. During the clean up, they took a sit down, all except for Leth. The medic never missed a beat, and continued to make rounds with the injured. Manning took this time to brief the Chief on their current situation.

"The ship is almost completely inoperable. The frame work matrix for the cockpit was trashed in the landing. All of the computers work, but most of the power system is down. It would work with the proper repairs, but none of us have the know-how or the facilities."

The sergeant's visor was depolarized, and the Chief was able to see his facial expressions as he spoke. The NCO was open and forward. If there was any trace of the usual prejudice in him, it never showed. There was a mission at hand, and Manning was all business.

When it came time to give his side, John let Cortana do the talking. He was more interested in observing what was going on around him. This included _her_. He wasn't quite sure how to put his finger on it, or if it was just a figment of his imagination, but there was something _off_ about her.

John was also attempting to assess the dynamic and the personalities of the ODST's that were there. If there was going to be territorial or attitude based issues, he wanted to spot them and avoid them.

"We have several wounded. Nothing too serious, except for Chief Thever. She was wracked up pretty badly in the crash. Our medic did what he could, and left her with the rest of Alpha squad. Sgt. Bastogne was a corps man and should know what to do. Don't think she can go too much longer without seeing a doctor, or more precisely a surgeon."

Cortana's voice piped through his speakers at the Sergeant. "If we can use power cells from the downed Falcon, I can compile a signal and message that would reach out further. If the UNSC traces your slip space trajectory, which they will, the ships will exit somewhere near the wreckage of the _Dawn_. From there we can lead them back to the crash, and get back to earth."

Manning quirked his eyebrow up. "Sounds like a workable plan. But there are a lot of variables and areas for error."

"I don't make errors Sergeant." She replied flatly. The air electrified slightly, and the next few seconds had an awkward feeling. Manning cocked his head ever so slightly in reply. If he were going to say something, it remained unspoken. John wondered if the sergeant had found something odd about the AI's retort, as he had.

The Spartan spoke, ending anything else that might have been said. "Take me back to the wreckage. We need to get that message sent, and the crew of _Serenity_ has a doctor among them."

"Sir" Manning saluted and walked off.

* * *

Ross sat on the back of one of the warthogs with his legs hanging off, watching the progressing scene. An amused grin on his face was the only hint at what was going through his head. He'd been the only one to remove the helmet so far. He couldn't help but think about the interesting day they had just been through. All that excitement and no damn camera. If it was possible to give himself a swift kick in the ass, he would have. He had the mentality to be a shutter bug. Memories were very important to him.

A tightness in the chest reminded him that he had not been lucky enough to walk away from the crash unscathed. Adrenaline had apparently covered it up. He made a mental note to bug for some painkillers when they got better down time. A lazy glance over the shoulder had his eye's wandering, searching for Leth. The Doc was busy, and Ross's ribs could wait till later. The fighting seemed to be done and over with.

He leaned back against the turret propping. The afternoon sun felt good on his face, even if the dry planet's atmosphere could be a little stifling. A cool breeze played across the area, offering miniscule respite from the heat. Footsteps in the sand brought his attention to focus again. He peeked open a blue eye, and recognized Coopers face looking down at him through a depolarized visor.

"Sleeping on the job?"

"I need my beauty sleep for my date tonight."

"There's a woman that'll touch your pale ass?"

"Oh yea," Ross said with earnest," Your mom loves my pasty self. Say's the freckles turn her on."

Instantly the troopers arm reared back. Cooper pelted Ross with half hearted punches, laughing with every hit. The redhead curled up into the fetal position and kicked out in an overly dramatized way. He raised his voice to a higher, whinier pitch.

"Stop! That's abuse! Sibling abuse! I'm telling mom!"

"How very professional the two of you are." Dawkins muttered. The third man sat haphazardly in the driver's seat. His helmet was off, and he had lit up a cigarette. He had darker skin than Cooper, and if memory served correctly, hailed from central Africa. Ross looked him dead in the eyes, but said nothing.

The red head brought his legs over his head, and gave a small, half assed kick at Dawkins's head, punctuated by ," Ugnh!"

Dawkins and Cooper tried to cover their laughs, only just succeeding from preventing an outburst. It would have been pretty inappropriate considering the circumstances. Several towns people were already offering up dirty, offended looks. But like everything else, it was water off their backs, or sweat in this case. It would really take more than a few disgruntled civilians from a backwater world to make the troopers flinch.

* * *

Raines walked an even pace between the houses and buildings. He was trying to work his way back to the mongoose. The fact that he didn't remember the exact way back was annoying. Finding the way to the water tower by sight guide alone was below his usual ability.

People were weeping and grieving over their dead, and he didn't have the stomach for it. The expectation of desensitization of an obviously back water isolated colony was unrealistic in many ways. The expectation of Raines to give a damn that people who lived in this kind of danger where unable to defend themselves properly to avoid the grief, was highly unrealistic. If one lived in an area where this sort of thing was possible, then proper preparations should be made. Judging by the reactions before the attack, the settlers were more than aware of the danger posed by living here. Any resulting misfortune related to the danger should be expected. Whether or not they could do anything about it really didn't matter to him either.

_How cold,_ he thought amusingly_._ A shake of the head moved the thoughts to the side. Irrelevant, and of no consequence. The turnaround a building looked familiar, and he remembered the mongoose was only a few yards away. _Clean up your act, you can't use the age excuse in your thirties. _

The wound on the inside of his thigh throbbed every time he walked. Doc Leth was right, stitches were needed. The dirty rusted blades of the Reavers probably weren't the most sanitary either, but the anti-septics in the temporary bandage would help. He certainly didn't want to depend on medical help from these idiots. Wind swept up dirt from the dry ground, but it didn't hide the gory litter. The bodies of the Reavers were still laying around the base of the water tower, lifeless because of his bullets. One was slumped against the front tired. He walked over, the nudged the body away with his boot.

A quick once over said the four wheeler was in good condition still. It revved to life smoothly, and purred like a cat in idle, waiting to be driven. Over the years, the little light weight vehicles had become his friend. He swung a leg over it, and revved the engine just for good measure. Squeezing the controls, the four wheeler pulled out quickly. He steered between the archaic buildings, heading back towards the rest of the squad. An urge to return to _The River Tam_ was becoming an itch at the back of his mind.

* * *

"Do you think you guys could show just a little bit more respect?" The little medic grumbled. He popped his helmet off and blew out a large breath. _Just another day.._

"Tug on yer mouth zippers fellas, mom jr's here."

Leth's fist shot out, and connected with the inside of Ross's thigh. The resulting muscle spasm, and its pain was expressed verbally.

"Ahhh!! Oh sweet mother of jebus, you little prick!"

"Next time show respect for the dead, and their mourning families."

Ross narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his expression." So I'm supposed to act sensitized so I don't hurt people's feelings? Sorry man, I just spent the last ten plus years exploring the many ways explosives and bullets interact with living organisms. I didn't get to stop and think about it. I'm sorry for their loss, it's a nasty way to go, even from what I've seen my thirty some years. But I will not sit here and get all sad and weepy."

His friends words gave him pause. " That sounds like something Kevin would spit out."

Ross's blue eye's widened. "Oh balls, you're right. I need to find a TV and some beer quick like. I feel all unclean and shit."

"Whoa", said Cooper, "Niky Ross had a serious moment. I'm kind of scared."

The troopers chuckled. At one point Smith had joined them. Leth gave the kid a once over. Smith couldn't have been older than twenty five, and was only slightly taller with typical farm boy looks. He looked too nice to be a hell jumper.

"The five of you could show a little more respect, and try to be just a decimal quieter."

The men froze like they'd been caught red handed. The fact that it was Sgt. Manning standing behind them, and not the Master Chief did little to take the edge off. The NCO gave them room to be lax and jest, but when it was time to work he was all business.

"Pack it in. We're heading back to the _Tam_ soon. Chief said he knows where a doctor is. I want both Hogs ready to go. One of you is going to have to ride with Raines back."

A unanimous "HIM" piped out of each of their mouths, and fingers pointed at someone else.

Manning slung his assault rifle onto his shoulder. "Ross, you're riding with him."

"What?"

"I heard your mouth over everyone else's."

Leth stifled a chuckle.

"Pffft, just as long as you promise to return my corpse back home to Cadence."

"He's not going to kill you, you big baby. Just be quiet the trip back."

Ross furrowed his brow and leveled the sergeant with a look.

"Well, slap some duct tape over your mouth then."

* * *

John picked Captain Reynolds out of the mix of men. If not for the defining facial features the man possessed, it might have been harder. The long brown coat Reynolds was wearing was in no short supply among the men and women who'd shown up. Brown was the common denominator.

Reynolds gazed up at him before John had even closed the distance completely. It's not like the seven foot green armored Spartan was hard to miss in the middle of a desert town.

"Master Chief." Reynolds nodded.

"Captain."

"You needing something?"

"There's injured back at the crash site."

"And I suspect you want our doctor to lend hand."

"It would be appreciated. A lift back to the wreckage of the _Dawn_ is required as well." Cortana said dryly.

A look passed over the man's face. "And what would me and my crew be gaining out of this?"

_Why am I not surprised?_ John thought sardonically. More and more he was getting a better idea of the kind of man Captain Reynolds was. Had they met under differing circumstances, the Spartan was sure it would have erupted into a gunfight. That still wasn't a completely offhand possibility.

"You get any salvageable material off of the _Forward unto Dawn_ wreckage." Cortana answered.

John connected to his private channel, and asked," You're authorized to do that?"

She answered nonchalantly." Does it matter? Our main priority is to get home, and these back water rebels are the best option at the moment."

He didn't reply, but the course of action they were looking at didn't sit right with him.

The Captain looked thoughtful for a moment. "If you've got more of those guns we might have a deal."

"I believe we reached an accord."

"I believe so." The look on Reynolds face was unreadable, but he whistled sharply to gain the attention of his two men. Well, man and woman. Zoe had an inquisitive look her face, but said nothing.

The four headed over to the group of ODST's that were hovering on and around one of the Warthogs. A seventh one rumbled up on a mongoose. John spotted the sniper rifle, and thinner build of the man, and recognized him as the trooper that had been on the roof. His helmet was still on.

Sgt. Manning turned and nodded his head. "Sir."

The rest of them straightened up. A red-haired man slid off the back of the hog and cradled his helmet under his arm. Half of them were missing their head gear.

"We found a ride for now." Cortana offered.

Reynolds walked and stood beside the Chief. He took a look at the black armored soldiers that were staring back. The eerie similarity to Alliance troopers caused his blood pressure to rise a bit. Each of them looked like well built killing machines. But if these men were like the Chief, they didn't even know what the Alliance was. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops.

"This is who's coming? Who was in charge here before big green?"

One of the men stepped forward. "That would be me. "

The Captain remembered him from before. The guy was from the 82nd, 105th or something like that. Mal took it, though he didn't had the foggiest what the 105th was, except some kind of military identification.

He nodded.

"Heard y'all need a doctor?"

"None of us. Our pilot back at the ship."

Jane snorted. "Buncha trained soldier's don't got a medic?"

What was probably the shortest man in the group straightened, and adopted an aggressive look on his face. "I'mma medic mate, not a fucking surgeon. Only so much I can do." There was an accent there that was so similar to a certain underworld rat they all knew. His ice green eyes stared down the big merc with unwavering intensity and the grip on the 12 gauge he was holding tightened.

The sergeant held up his hand to quiet the shorter guy. _Defensive_, Mal noted. "Who's this?" He gestured to the troopers standing behind Manning. "No one gets on my boat that I didn't meet first."

Manning whirled his finger. "Take'm off." In succession, with a few sighs, each of the troopers removed their helmets. This guy could be a way out of their predicament. Something as harmless as this was not too much to ask.

Mal made sure to get a good look at each of them, size them up.

The sergeant removed his own and spoke again. "Captain, that's Dawkins, Smith, Cooper," the dark-skinned man leaned on the red head, "Ross, Leth," The short guy with an accent similar to Badgers, "and Raines." The last one had black hair that looked out of regulation by any military standard, dual colored eyes, and scar that ran along the cheek bone and disappeared around the side of his head. The guy stared fixedly from Mal, to Jane, to Zoe, as if he was sizing them up himself.

Manning himself had a square set jaw and a strong face. The kindness in his features was only belayed by the total authority in his voice. "Alright. Why don't you show us where your ship is? Zoe, get on the comm and let Wash know to trace the location and get our esteemed Doc where he needs to be?"

"On it Sir."

Manning told him the Hog's would take the extra passengers, as long as no…evasive maneuvers had to be taken. The extra's could pile on the back with the turret gunner. When he told the men to gear up and get ready to leave, Mal caught the black haired, scarred man looking over them again. The guy donned his helmet and threw a leg over the four wheeler without a word. The redhead stuffed his own back on and jumped on back as the little engine fired to life with a small roar.

When Mal averted his gaze to something else, he noticed Sgt. Manning studying his face.

"Can I help you?" Did these people have eye problems?

The soldier grinned and shook his head. "No. You look and sound like someone I know."

Mal raised his eye brows and sucked on his teeth briefly. "That a good thing?"

Manning snickered. "Yeah. I guess you could take it as a compliment." The ambiguous statement hung in the air. Mal couldn't think of a reason, so it must have been something with greater meaning that he didn't quite get yet.

The guy placed his helmet back on and polarized the face plate, effectively hiding any further looks or expressions.

The Master Chief had already slid into the driver's seat, and Manning jumped in next to him. The shorter medic stood and gripped the framing in the back near the turret. He offered his hand out to Mal, who took it. With a great heave, _Serenity_'s Captain was braced in the back of the vehicle.

Cooper was perched on the second Hog's roll cage topping, Smith and Dawkins below him. Zoe and Jayne climbed into the back.

The engines roared to life, dwarfing out the sounds of the mongoose. With almost obvious eagerness, the small four wheeler peeled out, carrying the two men. The Hog's followed, leaving quite a dust trail behind them. Cooper was silently thankful to be leaving. Everyone of them wanted this fubar mission over with, but he felt a special urgency. His contract with the UNSC was almost up, and he'd be sitting with his family right now, if not for the stop-loss. Just this one last thing, and he was free. They left the town without an ounce of guilt.

* * *

The sunset lit ride was beautiful, and a welcome distraction from the problems at hand. Stranded on a backwater planet with no ship or communication with command didn't set an optimistic or hopeful mood. But one had to start somewhere to resolve any problem. They'd been through worse, so how bad could it really get?

The loaded hogs rumbled on, but their passengers were silent. As the wreck of the _Tam_ moved into the line of sight, Raines noticed a yellow hover craft sitting adjacent to the damaged bay doors. Two men sat in it, holding hands up and speaking to the Sgt. Bastogne. The sergeant had his rifle casually pointed between the craft and the ground. The mongoose pulled up first, but neither of its passengers moved.

Manning opened a comm link. "Stand down Bastogne; I think they're with us."

The setting sun glinted off the older sergeant's visor when he turned his head. "Well if you say so. The gun isn't moving."

The bodies piled out of the warthogs, and seemed to mill uneasily for several moments, waiting to see what their leaders did.

When the Chief exited, he drew the usual stares, especially from the two new men. The Spartan inclined his head towards Leth, who shouldered his bag and walked forward. The Irish man wasn't very subtle in what he wanted.

"Who's supposed to be the doctor out the two of ya?"

The blonde in the Hawaiian shirt pointed at the dark haired fellow in dressy cloths.

"You're with me. Hope you're skill matches those fancy threads you're wearing."

Simon jumped out of the mule and grasped his medical bag. He felt awkward moving through the small crowd of guys in black combat armor. It felt too much like being in the middle of an Alliance checkpoint. The faceless visors were intimidating and appeared coldly apathetic. He would have been lying if he said there wasn't a sense of relief when they were no longer in line of sight. Who were they, and where had they come from? They couldn't be Alliance, or the captain wouldn't have had things go the way they were. These guys also looked nothing like the part. He had to say though, their actions seemed to run with the typical foot soldiers: point your gun, be brash and rude, and demand answers. Even the medic had uncouth and borderline offensive mannerisms.

As Simon followed the surprising fast stride of the shorter man, he got a good look at the ruined ship. A part of the hull were the name was plastered was unintelligible. All he could make out was _T River am_. His mind lingered on it for a moment, but couldn't quite figure out why it was bothering him so. When the ship entered atmo, it had landed and skidded to a halt against an outcropping of rock. The amount of outside damage was a testament to this. It was a surprise so many of them had escaped unscathed. When he gawked at it closer, Simon realized it was some kind of drop ship.

* * *

The Sergeants stood talking to the Chief, occasionally pointing at something, while Mal tried to explain to Wash what was going on.

"Mal, what the hell happened? You might as well slap a neon sign saying "Come get me" on your forehead and fly into the nearest Alliance outpost."

"I don't much appreciate the tone you're taking with me."

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm just slightly worried about our new friends and the attention they're going to attract."

"I wouldn't call them friends." Jane snorted.

Wash rolled his head and eyes in the merc's direction. "Jane. Sarcasm. Look it up."

"Look. I aint all sure why I'm helping them, helping _him_." He jerked a thumb at the Master Chief, standing stoically and listening to whatever the Sergeants were telling him." But if you haven't noticed, these guys are high military, and high technology. Better than anything that ever come out Londinium's backside, goin off what I seen. Now we can leave them be, and like as ever the Alliance would eventually swoop in."

"And we would care why?" Jane mumbled, picking his teeth.

Zoe sighed, realization dawning. "Because then the Alliance gets their hands on the tech, reverse engineers it, and get all kinds of new gadgets and weaponry. We've only seen a fraction of what these guys have."

"We only seen a fraction of what these people got, and I'd like as not to discover it through other end reception." Mal remarked.

"Huh?" Jane grunted.

"Ain't you glad I pay you to think Jane?"

"So what do we do sir? We can't carry these people around like luggage. Wash is right. They're nothing but a big target, bringin more attention than we need."

"I know. But I wanna know where they came from. Some of the things Cortana has said have got me thinking."

"What do you mean?"

"I think _they_ know more than they've said so far. I do not want to get into it here, but him and that AI acted just a bit strangely… then you might expect…"

The crew members raised their eyes at him.

"I guess it might be too much for us to avoid excitement at least once." Wash said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wouldn't be right if we did."

Jane snorted.

Zoe shifted to stand next to her husband. "So," She said cocking her head to the side, "What do we make of them?"

Mal crosses his arms and glanced over at her.

"Buncha soldiers that got all turned about and lost, and need a ruttin baby sitter now. Ain't my problem."

"I meant their demeanors Jane."

"Oh."

"That Sergeant doesn't play around." They looked at the captain. "He's the real deal, and his men respect him. They look out for him. Did ya see the way they watched? And they don't like the Chief."

"Sir?"

"You didn't see it? The looks? Those men, _do not_ care for the jolly green giant."

Wash jingled the change in pockets of his flight suit. "Unit rivalry?"

"Maybe."

"I don't like that tall one Sir." Zoe was blunt.

Mal lifted his brows. "Really now?"

"What tall one?" Wash asked dumbly.

She lowered her voice. "The one with the 50 cal rifle."

Mal looked around quickish. "Why?"

"There's nothing in his eyes."

"Well that's not very nice." Mal said matter of fact-ly. The automatic weapon in his arms was growing heavy. The sun was just a red line on the horizon now, and the evening wind was beginning to whip around them. He trailed his eyes out of the gaggle of his crew. The feeling of being watched was unshakable.

Glancing over his shoulder, Mal made eye contact with the scarred man. The dual colored green and blue eyes were hard and cold. _Empty_. It was the appropriate word to describe what Mal saw inside them.

The eye contact wasn't broken until someone shifted, effectively blocking their view of each other. A small knot was starting to form in Mal's gut. A distinctive dislike for that one soldier was beginning to root. He turned back to his crew. Watchful Zoe was keeping any threats under her gaze. Jane was busy picking his teeth, while Wash stood rocking on his heels. The nagging feeling that the excitement wasn't quite over crept into the back of his neck.

* * *

"I've done all I can, but she needs surgery if she's going to survive." Simon said, cautiously waiting for a reaction. He wasn't sure of the soldier they kept calling 'Doc' yet. The man had removed his helmet and helped with a surprising amount of skill. The pilot named Thever had been the first concern. She was sleeping now, pain killers taking hold.

The other two men weren't in such bad shape. Both had broken arms, and one had a shattered wrist.

"Thank you."

The words caused Simon to pause. It was the medic. "It's nothing. I'm a surgeon; it's what I'm good at."

"I believe in giving others their dues."

"Ah, well. That's a bit of a rare thing out here."

The shorter man grunted in response. He walked past Simon to where the private was sitting, and beginning to come down from his pain killers.

Simon turned his eyes to the man's face, and took a moment to study it. High cheek bones, a strong brow, and eerily pale green eyes gave him an overall rough and aggressive expression permanently planted on his face. The actions and care administered to his men told a different story though.

"What's your name?"

"Hmm?" he looked up.

"Name?"

"Cuiteis."

"_Coor-taysh_?" Simon stumbled over the strange pronunciation.

"Yeah." He focused back on his work, but kept talking." Just call me Leth or Curt though."

Simon motioned for the guy called Bassik to sit. His dressing had to be changed. "Odd name. No offense."

Leth snorted lightly. "It's old Irish Gaelic. That's why I just say use the English version or my surname. So, pony up doc. I gave you my name."

"Oh, Simon Tam."

The medic paused. "Tam? Really?" Curiosity laced his tone.

Simon instinctively froze. The old fear had seized him. He had to fight the urge to get up and move as far away from the soldier as possible. Could he know? Would he be after River? Were they in danger again? Adrenaline made his heart beat erratically. In a span of seconds, Simon felt as though he might have aged several years. He swallowed hard and forced out an answer.

"Yes." It sounded strained.

"You've got something in common with our ship. "

Simon was still again, relief and confusion washing over him like a cold shower. Leth must have looked up and seen the bewildered look, because he offered an explanation.

"Our ship right there is called _The River Tam_."

The Doctor furrowed his brow, and grasped for something to say that would appropriately express his lack of understanding. Adrenaline pumped again, for entirely different reasons. This time his mind was racing alongside his heart, searching for answers. From what he knew, the people were supposed to be from Earth that was, like the Chief had claimed. The entire idea was preposterous, and Simon had never made up his mind on the matter. Now this person was telling him the name of their ship was the exact same as his sister? It wasn't feasible.

"How is that possible?"

"Bloody hell if I know."

"Was that a person?" He had to know. There had to be a connection.

"Um, no, kinda. The River Tam was the name of the slip space routes used by Commander Tam during the war. She would go behind enemy lines to rescue survivors and refugees from planet glassings and covenant attacks. Did a lot even with the Cole Protocol in place. A lot of people would have died if it wasn't for her. She's one of many hero's of the war. In fact, Cooper over there was on one of her last trips, right after his planet was glassed."

"What happened to Commander Tam?" Curiosity got the best of him. The name even belonged to a woman.

"Not long after she rescued the Soma refugees, the Covenant caught up with her. Blasted her ship to slag. Took two capital ships to do it though."

Simons body bussed a little with the acquisition of this new information. "I have to speak with my Captain. If you'll excuse me." He stumbled to his feet towards where Mal was standing with the others. He moved right through the other soldiers as if they weren't even there.

Leth shrugged at Simons departure, but noted the anxiety that had begun to show.

* * *

They weren't in a good way, and that was putting the situation lightly. At the moment, they were stranded, and it looked as though the lead on what to do next was an anti-government Captain and his crew for hire. The sergeants had explained everything quickly and thoroughly. The only source of possible currency or trade they had in exchange for help was scrap from the _Dawn_ that they really didn't have authorization over. Ultimately, John felt as though going to the governing body was the best option.

The likely hood that this government was well aware of its roots was high. However, when the first rebels separated from the rest of Earth it was fairly peaceful. There had been no other recorded confrontations since. The rest of Earth had assumed that they had died and gotten lost in the search for another place to live. John remembered the exact day this particular lesson had been taught. The topic it had fallen under was diplomatic success, failure, and situation elimination.

Curiously he wondered if the citizens, spread over dozens of planets, were aware as well. If one were to go purely off the behavior of the crew, the answer was more than likely a no. For the first time since he'd be brought out of cryo however, he felt more at ease. The familiarity of the situation had him getting back into a familiar set of actions.

When Sgt. Manning had finished his briefing of the crash site, John ordered him and the other to be at ease until they got word back from Captain Reynolds's doctor.

Movement from the corner of his eye distracted him from those thoughts. One of the troopers moved past him, heading back into the wreck. Cortana, who had been oddly silent, decided to make her presence known once more.

"John, we've got ships coming into orbit again."

"What kind?"

"It's not like the Reavers. The tags I'm picking up are more organized. They're from the Alliance Federal Law Enforcement. I take it the people really in charge are about to arrive."

John apparently wouldn't have to wait as long as he thought.

"Can you get into their comm chatter?" Technically these people were all rebels, and John was well within his boundaries.

"Can you flip a warthog?"

He grinned to himself. "Why are they here?" It was a possible late response to the Reaver attack, but a gut feeling had him thinking otherwise.

Cortana paused before saying, "They are responding to evidence of the crash landing of an unidentified ship by satellite. They're heading this way."

John didn't answer right away. He wrestled with the decision to tell Captain Reynolds, or keep quiet. The AI was able to read his mind though, just as he was coming to a choice.

"We should keep quiet about this."

It was not the decision he had reached. Cortana had been more cold than he had ever been able to recall. A creeping feeling from his instincts told him something was wrong. She had reached the age of rampancy for intelligent AI's, and the effects of the data from the Covenant city and encounter with grave mind were still unknown….

"No. I will inform _Serenity_'s Captain."

If the AI might as well have sighed. "Fine. Tatsuo is informing the Hell jumpers communications guy right now anyway."

_Was she being short with him?_

As he expected, John heard Cpl. Cooper open communications on the public frequency that all UNSC personnel had access to.

"Master Chief, Sgt. Manning we have two unidentified ships entering atmosphere in approximately five minutes. They are sending out hails to the downed vessel that was reported in this area. Master Chief, what are you orders sir?"

The mention of Manning's name was not lost on John. Cooper refrained from totally acknowledging the Spartans higher authority without completely cutting out his sergeant, while still following the chain of command. Manning himself turned a helmeted head in the Chief direction, waiting for orders. From his left, Reynolds doctor was moving rather quickly past them, and towards his captain.

"Master Chief? Your orders sir?"

John shifted in his armor. "Hold your transmission."

"Yes sir."

John turned sharply towards the captain.

* * *

Simon didn't stop, and he didn't care that several people gave him funny looks.

"Captain!"

Mal continued speaking but looked up at the doctor. When Simon stopped in front of him, Mal asked, "_Shuh Muh?_ "

"Do you know what the name of their ship is?"

"Umm," Mal turned to look at the hull for a moment before swirling back. "Not so much. I'm inclined to be caring…why?"

"The name of their ship, captain, is _The River Tam_." The statement was effective, and all of them turned to look at him, except Jane.

"Why would they name the ship after your gorram sister?"

Mal closed his eyes and Zoe rubbed her temples.

"Jayne, shut up."

"You're sure of this Doc? That's an awful big coincidence."

"Their medic told me. This is impossible captain. It has to mean something."

"It don't have to mean nothing. Simon, what are the chances?" Mal didn't want anymore excitement for the day.

"That is _really_ odd Mal." Wash remarked. His face was scrunched in thought.

"_Shi Ma?_ Well I'm not interested in what's odd. That feels all like a jar full with wasps that I'm havin no part of."

"Oh please, Captain, the wasps are already out. They have been since you picked the Chief up on that derelict."

Mal's face hardened at Simon's words. "Excuse me?"

"Who are you trying to kid. If you wanted absolutely no chance at anything like this, you would have left the guy floating on his wreck of a ship."

"I think you need to remind yourself who you're talking to."

"I think you need to wake up and see that something isn't right here. Since the day you brought him on board, something has been off. River's been spouting off strange things again-"

"Ain't that her nature?"

"- then these soldiers pop up out of nowhere with a ship named after the likeness of my sister? It's like these things are building in a crescendo. "

"And I think you could be a mite attention starved Doc. Might wanna look to your tone with me as well."

Simon didn't get a chance to rebuttal. Mal's comm buzzed to life with the frantic voice of Kaylee.

"Captain, we're humped. We've got Alliance ships hitting atmo in just a few minutes, and they're lookin for a crashed ship."

Mal's eyes widened.

"Ruttin Feds." Jayne muttered." We gotta make it back to the ship, get gorramn clear of this place."

"If we fire up Serenity before those feds leave, they might detect us."

"If they haven't found this wreck now!" Wash added.

"Wash, get the mule ready we're leaving- oh, speak of the big green devil."

The Chief moved towards them with fluidity. He didn't even bother to hide the unintentional eavesdropping.

"If you leave now, they'll suspect something." His voice was deep and gravelly as ever. He knew Reynolds had something to hide.

"Have you anything to hide Captain Reynolds?" Cortana added.

Mal smiled at the gold visor. "Course not. What in the verse would make you think that?"

If her avatar was visible she'd of leveled him with an all knowing smile. For the time she'd spent on their ship the last few days, Cortana had used it wisely. Hacking the Alliance war records on the cortex had taken a little longer than she would have cared to admit. Covenant computers had been more of a challenge in the past. As it turned out, Malcolm Reynolds and his crew were wanted for aiding the fugitives River and Simon Tam.. The arrest warrant had been rescinded about a year ago. That didn't stop the digital foot prints of the original from being there though. The Tam's were still wanted however.

Malcolm Reynolds war record was an interesting read as well. Other charges that had been brought against captain and crew over the years had been found, including illegal salvage, fencing, smuggling, and robbery.

Manning adjusted the gun slung on his back before speaking. " I don't know why you're jumpy, but they're coming here because of us and our wreck. The Chief is right. Dodging right now would put a lot of attention on you. If you play it calmly, you and your crew may go almost unnoticed."

"How do we know you won't start pointing fingers?" Jayne growled.

"How could anyone point a finger at you? I don't even know who the hell you are. Frankly, I don't give a shit. My mission is to get home, with him in one piece." He said incredulously and then jerked a thumb at the Chief.

"Chief you got five minutes before you're in their sights. Scanners have already picked you up." Cortana warned.

Mal darted his eyes from the black armored sergeant to the Massive green giant. "We got you off that ship… you scratch our backs…"

"And I'll scratch yours." It wasn't something Jon was unfamiliar with. Teamwork was deeply ingrained in him. He didn't care for Reynolds's anti-government sentiments, but the government in question were nothing but rebellious traitors. He could end up needing Reynolds's assistance if this encounter didn't go well. "Sgt. Manning. Tell your men to arm themselves with full ammo stocks and grenades. I want your sniper and explosives expert in good positions. That scope better have full view of this area and any flanking positions."

"Yes sir." Manning jogged off spouting commands, Bastogne following.

John buzzed Cooper. "Corporal send a response. Filter the information for anything secret or vital. Make no mention of the AI's. Wipe the ships data banks and pull Tatsuo's chip when you're finished."

"Copy that Sir."

"Master Chief, it is possible for me to set up a jamming program that will run on my command and block their communications. I can set it to self terminate on a timer."

"Do it."

"So much for cannibalizing the falcon for parts and power cells huh?" Cortana remarked.

* * *

Kaylee rushed to flip the switches, and make _Serenity _go dark. The canyon shielded the ship from view and any sensors. This time she made sure there was a ladder to get down. She moved through the door way, intending to go towards the cockpit.

"Stay there Kaylee." River murmured over the comm," The Captain will need us soon."

* * *

Mal saw the lights approaching first, then the sound. There was a knot in his throat that made it hard to swallow. Jane had been reluctant to hand over his weapons, but to be clutching illegal automatic weapons when in the presence of Alliance feds was not a good idea. They had settled on Jane and Zoe moving the mule to the other side of the wreck. Simon slouched deeply in the back seat, trying as best he could not to be visible.

Mal watched the troopers carry out their orders quickly, and gripped the handle of his pistol reflexively. The whole situation had the potential to go very bad. Adrenaline pumped through his blood and the captain of _Serenity_ had to wrestle with the bubbling ire in his gut.

There was only one ship, and it was different than any other fed ship they'd seen before. The design was sleeker and mounted outer weaponry loomed over them on strategically mounted positions. The side of the ship had a curious tag however. In Chinese it read "Federal Street Judiciary Enforcement". It was far from any fed enforcement Mal had ever seen or heard of, and it caused a tingle of concern in the back of his head. Kaylee had said there were multiple ships. Only one had shown up. He hoped Karyn had mustered enough sense to leave or get out of dodge.

Over the PA system, a gruff demanding voice barked at them. "**Drop your weapons**."

The ODST's didn't move, but looked to their sergeants and the Chief. The Spartan had a newly acquired battle rifle clinging to the magnetic plates in his bad. The gun was hidden from frontal view because of the Spartan's size. The five troopers that were on their feet tightened their grips on their guns. Hell Jumpers would not be easily swayed into disarming.

The Chief was statuesque and firmly answered. "No."

"**You will drop your weapons or be bound by Alliance Federal Law**."

"We are not members of your Alliance nor do we fall under your jurisdiction. We intend no aggression unless it is forced upon us first."

"**This is your last**-"

The voice was cut off, as if something or someone had disrupted it.

"The communications jam isn't activated yet." Cortana hissed in the Chiefs ear.

"They're up to something." he muttered.

"**You will go to 'at ease' and wait for the ship to land, and remain that way until an Alliance officer has released you from such. **"

"Do it." The Chief told the troopers, and then added on the closed comm channel," Be ready for anything."

Ross leaned his head in towards Leth. "Does he remember that we're Hell Jumpers?"

The Irishman shrugged and slid his helmet back on.

The ship hovered, descending lower and lower and causing the wind to whip sand into the faces of anyone not wearing a helmet. A Chief Thever was being shielded by the medic; Mal and Wash were the only ones who had a problem.

The Alliance made sure to have the exterior lights blazing for an intimidation attempt. Little did they know the polarized visors filtered that problem out. The bottom hatch opened, and armored men ran out toting guns. They filed into two flanking positions on either side of the ramp.

Just like the ship, Mal mentally noted the armor was different. It reminded him of what the fed soldiers had been wearing on Miranda, only more intimidating in look. Down the middle of the line, waltzing in an arrogant fashion, was what could only be the officer in charge. The man's eyes scanned the area, immediately landing on the giant green presence of the Spartan.

"I am Captain Williams of the FSJE. You will identify yourselves now."

John bristled at the man's assumption of overall authority, but quelled the emotional response. Now wasn't a good time.

"Master Chief Seirra-117 of the United Nations Space Command. These are ODST's of the 105th."

Captain Williams shot a look at Mal and Wash. Mal developed an overly dramatic look and raised his hand. "Concerned civilians doing a good deed."

The Alliance Officer paid them no more attention, but looked back to the Spartan standing no more than ten feet from him.

"By law AE-315 UN-5 of the espionage and P.O.W edicts, Master Chief you and your men are bound by law. You and all of your equipment will be surrendered and transported to a holding facility where you be interrogated and further evaluation of the situation can be assessed."

Can you guess what will happen next? I love it when you people do that, esp. when you get it right! More action next time, promise!


	10. When Worlds Collide

OOOOHHHH, yyeeeaaahhh, it's been a while. However I have an excuse. *ducks flying objects*

I finally got a job, so that's been eating up my time, along with school and other real life responsibilities. A lot of you know what that's like. Oh how I do yearn for the days when my life was carefree, and high school was the only thing I ever had to worry about. Ah well. This is the fight scene you have all been wanting. Took me a while b/c I'm god awful at doing these parts.

I can't believe so many people like this story so much. I never once expected this. Hope I continue to make you guys happy. I don't care for this chapter a lot, but it was a hump I had to get over.

Hope you all like it, please keep the reviews coming. I love them!

UPDATE: BAHHHH, the stupid site didn't let my scene divders go through. i tried to fix it, hopefully it works this time, cuz I have a 3,000 word paper to work on!

~88~

The electricity in the air was palpable. The clenching of gun grips and triggers was almost audible. It was as if someone had suddenly fueled a dead machine. The posture and mood radiating off the ODST's switched in an instant and one could cut the air with a knife so to speak.

The ticking time bomb that was the Hell Jumpers was about to go off. They brought their weapons up. The Alliance soldiers responded with catlike reflexes in turn, charging their guns.

"Captain Williams Sir, I'm not sure you're fully appreciating the dangerous situation in your hands right now. Choose your words more carefully." The Chief's voice took a dangerous tone."

But the arrogance of the Alliance officer knew no bounds. The Spartan's warning went right over his head.

" I choose my words how ever I feel, Master Chief. This governing body has no tolerance for espionage from rival nations."

Mal was thoroughly confused. "_Rival Nations_? " he whispered to the nearby Sgt. Manning.

The soldier inclined his head towards Mal. " Beats the hell outta me." he looked the Captain up and down, before adding , "You armed?"

Mal never took his eyes off the unfolding scene, but replied, " uh huh. Hip…"

_Serenity_'s captain was slightlyalarmed when the troopers hand moved against his side, brushing the gun.

Manning grunted, "Not good enough. When the shit hit's the fan, that automatic on my back is hanging by a magnetic plate. Just yank hard enough."

"Alrighty then." He never even bothered to ask how the sergeant knew the 'shit' was going to hit the fan. Experience oozed off the NCO by the gallon. He did however eyeball the firearm out of the corner of his eye. It was impressive looking, to say the least. It was smaller than the rifle the man held in his hands, but Mal had seen it used on Reavers. The firearm was powerful.

Sgt. Bastogne stood behind the Chief and to his right, Manning, Wash and Mal back and to the left. When Mal glanced around the Sergeant's head, he got a glimpse at the others. It never hurt to know what was going on around you. The red head, Ross, stood next to the medic. He was holding what looking like a grenade, turning it over in his hand. Their visors were polarized, but their postures gave away what they were thinking. The shorter man's hand clenched in and out of a fist. There were two feds standing not far from them, and the medic seemed to have positioned himself like a shield between them, and the injured laying not far away. The sniper was no where to be seen. Mal wasn't sure if that was reassuring or worrisome.

John was finished talking to the man. There was no reasoning with him, and the answer he received told him everything. He opened the private channel to Tatsuo.

"Jam their communications, and have Corporal Cooper pull you."

"Copy that Chief."

The Fed Captain was not a complete fool however. The momentary silence aroused his suspicions, even if it was only a fraction of a second.

"Drop your weapons now and no one gets shot." He men moved simultaneously with his words.

One of them tried to move past Leth, towards the injured. Bad move.

The medic and the Spartan reacted in sync with each other.

The Chief brought his rifle up and muttered, "Not gonna happen," and squeezed the trigger. At the same time, Leth let his instinct take over; protecting those that depended on him and his care. He lashed out with his fist, putting all the force he could muster behind it.

The bullets left the barrel of the Chiefs rifle and split the air, slamming into the Captains chest.

Leth's fist connected with the man's helmet, shattering the visor and forcing him down to the ground.

The effects were similar to a floodgate failing.

The Captain fell to the ground, and the second fed near Leth and Ross fired his weapon directly into Leth's chest, point blank range.

Manning had his rifle up seconds after the Chiefs, and fired burst rounds into the Alliance officers without hesitation. However, his heart caught in his throat when he saw the Doc's situation out of the corner of his eye. The firearm was point blank….. And fired some kind of energy. The blue ring shaped blast sent the hell jumper flying back wards, tumbling feet over head, and landing on his back.

Leth's body didn't move.

"NO!" pushed it's way out of Ross's mouth in the form of an enraged scream. He drew his side arm fast as a snake strikes, and brought against the mans neck. The trigger was pulled without a second thought.

The blood sprayed out like a mist, and the fed dropped like a sack of bricks. It was then the fire fight truly escalated to a hellish level. Bullets flew, and the ODST's dove for cover.

Concentrated fire was put onto Ross. Mal watched as he slammed the grenade he'd been holding into the ground. What looked like honeycombed glass sprung up around him, stopping the bullets and energy bursts in their path. It gave the Alliance soldiers pause.

_Serenity_'s Captain had never seen anything like it. But Mal didn't stay distracted, he grabbed Wash and forced the pilot to the ground, but not before gripping the gun off the sergeants back like he'd been offered. A solid yank released it from the magnetic plates hold, just as Manning said it would.

Manning him self stayed low, firing short burst shots, and moving backwards toward the wrecked ship. He paused next to Wash and Mal.

"Move your asses! Go! I'll cover you!"

Wash got moving, but Mal hesitated. It didn't feel right to just split, not yet. He held the gun up, aiming at the legs of the nearest fed. The bullets cut through the guys leg in a red spray. The action was oddly satisfying.

The was no blood spray when the Captain went down. John knew he was wearing a flak vest. He'd suspected it when the mans uniform appeared slightly bulged. The armor's shields fared up and gave a warning signal as Alliance bullets collided with it. The warning went into the red when the Chief took the brunt of an energy blast like the one that had slammed the medic.

"Cortana, analyze that energy signature. I wanna know what it does." He unloaded a clip into five of the oncoming soldiers and started making for the bubble shield.

The soldiers that rushed in towards Ross and the shield, started to drop without reason, small bursts of blood popping out of their necks and heads.

Captain Williams rolled over, and began scrambling to his feet. He surveyed the battled field, and yelled, "Sniper! Take cover! I want ground cover and turret support now!" The man's voice cracked, rimmed with pain.

Sgt. Bastogne kept up with the Spartan, and maneuvered towards the body of the medic. John checked his HUD for the ODST's vitals. The medic wasn't dead, merely unconscious. The injured were up and moving, going for cover on the other side of the ship, and within the rock formation. The sergeant grabbed Leth's body by the collar and started to drag him. The gun went along, caught on the wrist by the strap.

"Give me cover fire!" He yelled.

"Gladly!" Ross hissed. He wasn't playing around anymore. He hefted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder and aimed into the open ramp of the Alliance ship.

The Alliance men yelled "Rocket! Take cover!", for all the good it did them. The SPNKR round left a vapor trail behind as it collided with the hydraulic lifts for the ships ramp. The explosion sent men flying and warning lights to blare outside and inside the ship.

The outer weaponry on the ship moved and came to life, aiming at the pockets of resistance.

Manning yelled over the radio, "Raines! Take out those guns NOW!"

The supporting structure and wire sparked with the impact of the 50 cal round, and fizzled out of power completely after the second one.

"Would you like fries with that Sgt. Manning?" The sniper asked calmly over the comm system.

The Master Chief systematically took down every fed who had not run for cover behind or in the ship. When there was a slight lull in the shooting he moved back towards the rocks for better cover. He grabbed the body of the medic so Bastogne could climb up, holding the extra fire arm. The short man took no effort to lift. He was like a rag doll to the Spartan.

The rocks jutted out at odd angles, giving them good cover and firing positions. On the other side of the ship, he picked up the presence of Sgt. Manning, _Serenity_'s Captain, and the pilot. Cpl. Coopers signal was moving toward them through the ship.

Chief Thever was set down by Dawkins and Smith. She reclined against the rocks, loading a pistol. Bassik was next to her, on one knee cradling his broken arm and holding his magnum. His helmet was depolarized, and the bags under his eyes said the pain killers had worn off.

He scanned the area again, and the computer in his suit picked up the signal of one of the ODST's nearby, at a higher elevation. The sniper was sitting somewhere at the top of the rock outcropping.

"Status report Cpl. Raines" Master Chief demanded.

"You're looking at a nest of pissed off hornets. There's another ship on it's way."

"Chief, they must have been transmitting to the others before we jammed them. There haven't been any communications since the jam, or I would have detected it." Cortana remarked.

"Then we need to take them out before they take us out."

"One thing first." Ross grunted. He depolarized his visor, and roughly yanked off Leth's helmet. He placed his fingers on the Irishman's neck. "He's got a weak pulse!" His hands scrambled for the chest plate release. The clips unlocked, the plate was flipped out, and immediately the medics chest rose sharply. His eyes shot open, and he took a sudden, rough inhale. Instantly he was coughing and hacking, chest rattling. He gasped like a fish out of water, legs kicking out and scraping the ground in the struggle to catch his breath.

"Doc! It's alright man, breathe!"

Leth tried to sit up. Ross gripped his shoulders and sat him up right.

"Feels like a truck barreled into me lungs! The fuck was that?" His voice was strained and low, struggling for substance and sound carry.

"Some kind of stun round. You took it to the solar plexus." The Chief said, slapping ammo into the battle rifle. Cortana confirmed, " It was a stunner. He had it on full blast, and point blank range. Your vitals are saying there's no broken bones, but you're going have severe contusions."

"Ow," said the medic in a strained voice. "Where's my gun?"

Bastogne handed it over, the shotgun catching light from over the rock formations. The medic pumped it once. " My bag is on the other side. I want it back."

"Are you serious?" Dawkins spat out. He opened fire over the rock.

Ross helped Leth to his feet. The short man groaned. "That thing survived Knogsin, Sung-tu, Carthia, Garnet, and Earth with me. Peoples lives have been saved because of it. And I like the color," he said flatly.

"Ha!" Bassik laughed.

~88~

John radioed Sgt. Manning. "Find out if Captain Reynolds knows how to take down those ships."

"Yes sir."

Manning looked to his left, where Reynolds and his pilot were crouched. Not far, and firing from on top of the hull were the other two.

"Either of you know how to take that thing out quick?"

Mal stood and fired, before coming back down. "Wash?"

The pilot straightened his shirt, and peeked at the Alliance ship. "You can fire at that thing all night long, and it'll take it like a hooker takes your wallet. It's an up armored patrol boat. You want thing outta commission? Gotta do it from the inside."

"Chief, we have to hit it internally. Preferably before they take off in it." Manning radioed.

Raines grunted, "That ship gets back in the air we're fucked."

Cooper popped his head up and snickered. "Then let's reach inside her, and deliver a swift kick to the bitches ovaries."

Mal fixed Sgt. Manning with a look. "You gonna go against an Alliance gun ship, full of feds, with more air support on the way?"

"Pfft, there isn't a problem in the world that can't be solved by throwing a squad of Hell Jumpers at it." The Sergeant spat matter of factly.

The comm lines flooded with chuckling.

John listened to the chatter for a moment before issuing commands. "I'm going in from the right side. Sgt. Manning come in on the left with Cooper. Bastogne, Smith and Dawkins follow after me. The remainder of you provide cover fire."

A chorus of 'copy that' sent the Chief springing to his feet , shouting "Move!" and hurtling towards the ship.

The Spartan was a green blur, moving faster than any other human was capable. Instantly gunfire erupted with a renewed vigor. The Chief raised his weapon in response, taking down each Alliance official quickly with efficient bursts to the head. Another popped up on his HUD, coming around the side of the ship. His aim changed accordingly. More scrambled on the opposite side, only to be pelted with speeding metallic death bids, courtesy of Sgt. Manning and Cpl. Cooper. An automated turret lowered from the wing. Sgt. Bastogne grunted when his rifle destroyed it.

When he was in range, Master Chief ducked and rolled to the side of the loading ramp, taking advantage of what little cover was offered. When a fed tried to scurry down to join the nearly one sided fight, the Chief knocked his legs out from under him, and dragged the guy off the ramp. A swift jerk of the neck ended it quickly, just in time for another volley of fire to erupt from inside the ship. The ammunition wasn't you're typical bullet though. Red flashes invaded the vision of the ODST's, and they realized they'd be dealing with laser weapons.

Manning wasn't about to find out the intensity or power behind those guns. He looked to the Chief after Dawkins, and Smith joined the Spartan and Bastogne on the other side of the ramp.

The Master Chief made the hand gesture for grenades, and pulled a frag from his belt. Manning followed suit, and they counted together silently, the Chief counting off with his fingers. The cooking had reached it's limit, and they lobbed the grenades inside with an underhanded pitch.

~88~

The concussion shook the ship and immediate area around it. Mal, Zoe and Jayne even felt it back at the wreck of the _Tam_. He turned to his first mate and asked, "Did they really just run up on that gun ship like it was a ruttin game of hop scotch?"

"Yes sir." She answered under her breath. The longer they were around these men the more cautious she grew. They were high military, just as bad if not worse than some of the Alliance they'd dealt with in the past because of River and Simon. She felt like they were swimming against a rip current again. Her soldiers instincts were in overdrive.

"Who in their right mind does that? Gonna get themselves gorram dead." Jayne muttered.

Back on the mule, Simon held his head in his hands. Why did they always run into these situations?

He was startled when Rivers small voice interrupted his thoughts through the comm.

"Simon, we're coming to get you."

"What? River no, it's dangerous here. You and Kaylee have to keep back at the ship, and wait for us."

"Not enough time. Walking court will be bigger soon. More bailiffs coming. "

"What are you talking about?"

"We need to go, all of us." She cut off the transmission.

Simon threw up his hands in frustration. "Captain!"

"What?" Mal made a face.

"Rivers bringing the ship here!"

"What!" Mal stood straight up, and promptly ducked again when a round whizzed past his head.

Zoe took aim over the edge of the wreckage they were using as cover. "Has she lost more of her mind?"

"Simon! You get on the gorram comm and tell you sister not to put one deadly little digit on those controls, you got me?"

"I can try-" a new rain of blaster fire cut him off." But she cut the transmission!"

"I don't care! My ship is not getting shot, blown up or id'd on another _Jing Chai _adventure! _Niao Se Duh Du Gwai _this is ridiculous!"

His statement was punctuated by another explosion. Power inside the fed ship flickered.

"My point exactly." Mal muttered, his hair straying into his eyes.

~88~

The double grenade attack had done some serious damage to the ship and the men that were still on board. Raw hamburger was good way to describe it.

The Chief went in first, followed by Cooper and Manning, and the rest of the ODST's. The ship wasn't much smaller than the Falcon the troopers had flown on before crashing. With the Spartan on point, they moved through the craft, taking out anyone that they came across.

Manning knew instantly they were going for the cockpit.

There was cursing and yelling from the control area. John could make out two voices arguing. He rounded the corner, and popped a bullet in each mans head without hesitation. A squeak from the corner gave away Captain Williams position, not that he could have hid from the Spartan anyway. John motioned with two fingers, and Manning and Dawkins grabbed the guy by his arms, and removed all weapons quickly.

"Cpl. Cooper, find if there's a way to make their engines over power."

"Yes sir."

The Spartan towered over the Alliance Fed, that mirrored gold plate adding a terrifying coldness to the already high intimidation factor.

"You know exactly where we're from don't you."

"I'm not telling you anything, _Ta Ma Duh_."

"Interesting," Cortana said. " Everyone in this little annex of humanity mixes Mandarin and English together regularly. He just called you a 'mother fucker'."

"These men are well aware of what and who the UNSC is."

The air was tingling with anxiety.

"It's the reason they were so damn hostile." Cooper added from his seat at the controls. Disbelief laced his voice. "These people are the remnants, er- decedents of the first great separation. I learned that crap in grade school. I'm looking at protocols for the event of any contact with the UNSC and any one or thing related to it." He swirled in the chair. "This has got to be a friggin joke."

"They survived a trip like that with no FTL technology?" Dawkins muttered.

"The son of bitch knew the whole time." Manning stated.

"Listen to this- standard protocol in the event that contact is re-established with any representation of the United Nations Space Command, is , in a nut shell, to contain, detain, debrief and dispose. What is wrong with these people? There's a sub article on procuring any technology and another on quarantining information from the public."

"Totalitarian."

"Cover-up."

"Controlling the public through flow of information through the media. I've already delved into their information network enough to know that most of this civilization happily wears blinders in exchange for material comfort. The rest are just ignorant." Said Cortana.

"Chief, that other ship is incoming."

"Set the auto turrets to fire on it when in range."

"Yes sir. Only on of them is operational. Raines killed the rest I think." Cooper was having one hell of a time navigating the controls on the ship. Were it a UNSC vessel, it would have taken a matter of seconds, with the help of an AI. Sifting through the English and Mandarin control labels wasn't easy, and would have been impossible if Tatsuo wasn't chirping helpful pointers in his ear.

"Move back to _The River Tam_. We need to evac the area. We can't win this with waves of reinforcements inbound."

"Master Chief sir, where are we supposed to go after this? I doubt this 'Alliance' is going to let us just nest in this desert until our people find and pick us up. And _that_ could take a long time."

"Malcolm Reynolds' ship can pick us up. We'll play it by ear after that." There wasn't much else they could do, he thought grudgingly. If it was just him and Cortana, things would be simpler. He'd invaded a Covenant city and government center by himself. But having the troopers here made things different. He wasn't quite sure of their abilities yet. Being an ODST meant you were the best of the best, besides the Spartans. But that didn't mean all Hell Jumpers were made equal. There were also the wounded to consider. These men were his responsibility now.

There was also the less than scrupulous Captains reactions and opinion that created another variable.

Cpl. Cooper pounded at the controls for a few more minutes before he exclaimed a sound of success. "Found the engine controls. These people still use fuel! But I think I can route power to make it overheat. I don't know how long it would take for over taxing and combustion to occur."

"We need a jack-in point. The information I could siphon of this ship would be invaluable." Cortana grumbled aloud. Cooper turned his visor up to look at the Chief.

"These computers seem to run off interchangeable hard drives. From what I'm seeing, each commander has his own drive or drives, with personalized protocols and algorithms in place. Pass codes and everything are on it- I think."

"You think?" Dawkins sneered.

"Hey- you wanna do this? I'm going at it the best I can. All computers are structurally the same in origin and coding. Messing with different operating systems and programs of varying complexity without the help of an AI is a pain in my Somian ass." He took a breath. "Let me see if I can get the drives ejected for this ship."

"Do it."

Raines buzzed in over the comm. "What the hell are you doing in there? That ships about to be in range. Get your asses out of there or get corned by one big fucking dog. I believe we're looking at a troop carrier."

"Hurry it up Corporal." Bastogne growled.

"Power re-routed to engines…. Now. Popping drives as we speak."

Crystal like devices ejected smoothly from slots in the control panel. There were three of them, and Cooper moved to pocket them.

"What about him?" Manning asked, smacking the fed with the butt of his rifle.

John turned to face the Captain. The man made a face and spit as hard as possible in at the Spartan. John side stepped it easily, and lashed out with the speed of a cobra, using his left foot. Williams face jerked up and to the side violently with a wet _snap_.

John was silent and made the hand signal for them to leave. Dawkins dropped the mans arm, and gazed at the body for a moment. It wasn't because of the mans passing, or the manner of it; the sheer speed and ease of force used to end the Captains life was shocking.

Manning shrugged. He had been rather annoying anyway. At least no bullets had been wasted.

Warning signals flared up again as they moved toward the exit of the ship. A woman's voice announced that the engine was unstable in English and Chinese. The lights were barely flickering, and the externals were completely gone.

At a hustle pace, they cleared the vessel quickly. Out on the ramp, John heard the engines of the other ship close by. A sweep of the sky gave away it's location, and he hurried his men.

A steady _thack thack thack_ started along the ground not far from them.

"Hug the ground!" Manning shouted. The soldiers dove for cover among the Alliance bodies still laying in the dirt. Master Chief rolled to side, dodging the bullets with what looked like the least amount of effort needed.

The large caliber rounds left small craters in the soil. When it seemed they had stopped, John listened to the engine sounds. He watched the ship hover out and rotate for a moment, like it was going to land. The decent was quick, and sure enough the ramp opened, and poured out more feds in cobalt armor. Two central figures remained poised at the top, un moving from the interior of the vehicle. When it had off loaded the men, the craft took off again, blowing up a dust storm in it's wake.

Bastogne was the first one up. "Light'em up!" He ordered, and opened fire on the armored men.

Manning rolled to his feet and armed his last grenade.

The feds saw it coming, and scattered as best they could. When the blast erupted, four of them were still caught pretty close to it. Three more in the back dropped, two instantly and one clutching his throat, blood pouring through his fingers.

"Good work Raines." Manning muttered.

"That ships coming around for another pass. You need to find better cover." The sniper said stoically.

John jumped to his feet, and caught sight of the turret on the back of the Warthog. He moved for it with lightning speed, and in seconds he was on the back of the hog. The turret ripped from it's support structure easily, and the Chief jumped down with a heavy _thud_.

Dawkins saw what the Spartan had done, and yelled for every one to move. The turret came to life slowly, but each of the rounds it fired pounded into the hull of the ship.

"It's coming back!" Manning yelled.

"We gotta take it down!" Dawkins yelled.

They aimed up, their bullets adding to the massive volley already originating from the Chief. Visible damage was building up on the one side of craft. The ship it's self turned and was coming back, and opening fire.

"Take cover!"

They were sprayed with projectile rounds. The ground was peppered, and there was no avoiding it in some parts. Sgt. Bastogne was not so lucky, and the volley connected with his body. The armor helped in some places, but rounds found their way to the soft spots at the neck and plate joints.

The ODST ceased movement, and let out a startled grunt before falling to ground completely. Dust kicked up on impact with his body. Blood pooled on the sand under him.

The second of stunned silence that followed seemed to last an eternity. The disbelief building…

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Manning slid in the sand towards him. "Eric!" The air rushed in his ears.

The Chief expended all ammo from the turret, and dumped the gun in the sand when he was done. He could see the damage done to the ship, and the fire it had received had forced the thing to turn around for the moment. The vitals of one of the Sergeants flickered, and were rapidly heading towards flat lining.

Bastogne was unable to speak in his last moments; several bullets through the throat had seen to that. He gasped, and gripped Mannings forearm as tight as he could. His chest heaved for a moment, before falling slowly, and silently for the last time. Blood pooled from his neck, around his head forming a sick kind of halo. Gently, and respectfully, he placed the mans arm over his chest plate.

Manning knelt by him at a loss for words. For several seconds, he didn't move. But the sergeant was no cherry to battle. He collected Bastogne's rifle and reached inside the mans chest plate, grasping for something. When his hand emerged, it was holding a chain that had a tag, and a data chip dangling off of it. Smith and Dawkins paused, the death of their squad leader hitting them hard.

"Keep moving people, find some cover."

Dawkins moved with a now disheartened step. He spotted the medic bag laying on the ground, and ran over to swipe it. He grunted at how heavy it actually was. They managed to make it back to the rocks and the wreck, and uncomfortable silence passing between each trooper. Ross and Leth had seen what happened, and looked away upon their return. If Raines had comment he kept it to himself, as usual, and remained vigilant on the outcroppings top.

Death was nothing new to any of them, but the war was over. They had survived the attempt to eradicate humanity, and taken part in the battles leading up to, and during the defense of Earth.

When a veteran like Bastogne died, all those who served had reason to have it hit them hard. Manning had known him for years, and the man had survived through some nasty situations.

"I'm taking that fucking ship out." Ross grunted, loading another rocket round.

"It's more armored than the last one." Dawkins commented.

"Then get me an opening!" he hissed.

~88~

Mal watched the guy go down and felt himself involuntarily cringe. Seeing one of the troops kick it, drove home that they weren't invincible. That made him wonder about what it would take to bring the Chief down.

"Mal, we need to get out of here gorram it." Jayne growled.

"As scared as I am to admit it, I concur with Jayne. This isn't any good."

"Didn't the Doc say his looney sister was bringing the ship? I say we hop on it and take, let these freaks fight it out with the feds."

Jaynes words stirred something deep. By all means, Mal was ready to jump ship and leave these people to fight their own battles. It wouldn't be the first time he'd left someone behind, though never anyone from the crew. In fact, the urge to leave was pressing within him.

But when he tried to make the command verbal, something would nag at the base of his mind, and the words would retracted before they ever left his lips. He didn't realize Zoe was talking to him till she repeated herself.

"Sir!"

"Huh? What?"

"What are your orders?"

"What do you mean what are my orders?"

"Are we helping them or not?"

_YES_

"Yeah…" He scratched his head, confused as to the decision he'd reached.

Zoe looked at him funny for a moment, until gun fire brought her out of it. The ship was coming in for another pass.

~88~

Ross was waiting for it to land again. The rockets were the last piece of heavy weaponry they had available. When the door opened, if it opened, they were going down.

John reloaded his gun, and watched to see what the feds were going to do. If they were ignorant enough to underestimate the capabilities of the small UNSC force, the outcome could be drastic. The silence was thick enough to cut through with a knife. John looked over the rocks. If he got more height, he'd be able to attempt to board the ship.

The path Corporal Raines used wasn't obvious, and would take an experienced climber to scale. The Chief was propelling himself upwards at an almost impossible pace, even though some of the hand holds were too small. As he reached the top, the sniper shifted to glance over his shoulder at the Spartan.

John remained at a low crouch, and surveyed the area briefly. The way the bluffs were formed provided good cover from any surveillance. The sniper went back to staring through his scope, and ignoring the Spartan. It reminded John of Linda immediately. The gun jerked to the left, and Raines spoke.

"They're coming back."

The ship swooped in close, the engines whirring loudly. The turrets pounded the terrain with sprays of deadly bullets. The troopers pressed in closer for better cover against the crag. With the UNSC team pinned down by fire, the skiff opened it's bay downs once more, spilling forth two dozen more men..

Ross wouldn't miss the chance. He flung his body upright, and shot his rocket directly into the bay. The targeting system hadn't even been utilized, but the attempt hit home.

The round collided with the side of the opening, bringing a shower of sparks and fire. The ship careened out of control, coming closer to the rocks, close enough for a jump. The Spartan pushed with all the force in his legs. The hull of the ship came rushing up to greet him. The weight of his impact left a sizable dent in the surface. Beeps and shrill alarms were going off inside, but he paid them no mind. John jumped to his feet and ran across the surface towards the cockpits canopy.

~88~

The soldiers hit the ground, and scattered instantly for cover, obviously learning from their predecessors. Now they were headed for the ODST's cover on foot, laying down enough spray to keep the troopers pinned and barely able to fire back. Raines picked them off one by one, his rifle running low on ammo. He was having to aim more carefully now. The Alliance soldiers were using their brains this time, taking the fight to a whole other level.

There was a glint of light, and his mind barely registered it in time. It was the reflection off of a type of sights. None of his body was visible, which rendered a gun useless. He paused for the briefest moment to ponder this, when the weapon emitted sparks and smoke.

_**RPG!**_

He rolled left and to his feet lighting fast. The RPG collided with the rock formation next to him. The concussion knocked him off balance, and off his feet, nearly tumbling off the top of the outcropping. Another slammed into the opposite wall. Stars dotted the snipers vertigo warped vision, and it took a moment to reorient himself. Scratch that, he needed more than a moment. Bit's of rock rained down on him and he could hear shouting beneath him.

"Kevin!"

"They're going to fire a third one!"

The words barely catalouged in his brain. It was more than one voice, amidst the gun fire and grenade explosions.

"Coroporal Raines if you are still amongst the living you will answer me _NOW_." It was Manning. Had to be.

He rolled on his stomach, and tried to pick himself up. He made it to his hands and knees. Forcing him self to will away the dizziness, Raines tried to make his lips move in response. The words never got a chance to leave his mouth though.

The first Alliance ship, still sitting broken in the sand not far way, erupted in a massive fireball of flames and flying debris. A wave of hot air washed over the fight, knocking men to their feet.

~88~

Mal and his crew took shelter behind the hull of the UNSC ship. Jayne yelled a string of obscenities that would make even the most crude of prostitutes blush. There had to be a better way to do this. The idea hit him quickly. The hatch to the inside bay to the ship was still open. When he had run for cover, there were several wheeled vehicles inside that might be operational.

He got moving in that direction.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Zoe inquired.

"Got a crazy, stupid, and probably suicidal idea."

"Sounds appealing!" Wash yelled.

"Jayne, use Vera and give us any cover we might need."

"Got it."

"Zoe, Im countin on you all."

"Yes Sir," She answered, with just a hint of sarcastic pep.

~88~

Leth clutched his chest, still exposed from the lifted plate, listening to the attempts to reach Raines. He gave himself a shot of adrenaline laced with slight pain killers. He didn't have the time to be incapacitated. The chest plate was slapped back in place and locked down. The medic slammed his helmet back on and took up the shotgun once again, and sat on his bag. He wasn't good for much else at the moment. Worry tickled the back of his mind, but he swatted it away. Every member of their squad was tough. They'd been through hell and it would take more than a few RPG rounds to kill them.

The ships explosion shook them all, but the third strike from the RPG snapped their attention away instantly.

"Fucking hell, Raines! Get your ass out of there!" Cooper yelled. He started to climb the rocks. "I'm going up there."

But bullets and assorted laser fire had him jumping back down. Alliance soldiers rounded the corners at them.

"Open fire troopers!"

Open fire they did. Cooper let loose an incendiary grenade, catching two of the enemy in a blaze of all consuming fire. The men screamed and dropped to the ground, rolling in pain.

Bassik took careful aim with his side arm, and even Thever fired. The attempt at flanking was cut short, and it was doubtful the Alliance would trying it again without better fire power.

"Kevin! Answer your fucking NCOIC god damn it!"

There wasn't a chance to get much more out though. Something connected with the back of Mannings helmet, _hard_. The force of the blow threw him off his feet. It was a blond haired man, and he attacked Dawkins next with a display of martial arts that distinctly reminded him of his sniper. Ross whipped around with his side arm, only to be disarmed and thrown to the ground.

The attacker unsheathed a long, thin sword, and poised it above Ross's neck, and Manning could have sworn he heard, "This is a good death for a warrior." Leave the man's lips.

But before that sword could fall, and deafening shotgun blast made the man flinch and roll to the side for cover.

"Fuck off." Leth grunted as loudly as he could.

Using the distraction to his advantage, Manning lunged for the guy, tackling him in another direction. Both men rolled to their feet, the Alliance soldier cat like and precise, the ODST rough, like a brawler.

The Sergeant realized his gun was on the rocks where he's been knocked down. He cracked his knuckles and motioned for the man to bring it.

The fed whipped his sword around, and Manning pulled the long, cruel looking combat knife from it's sheath on his chest.

~88~

The explosion from the ship knocked the second skiff off course even further. The Master Chief had to catch his balance and grab a piece of the hull to keep from falling. The smooth reflective surface of the canopy loomed ahead of him, and gave way to renewed vigor. He'd had enough of these people. He categorized them as no better than the separatists he'd fought before. He drove him self forward, reaching the edge of the canopy.

The crew was slightly invisible through the tinted glass, and they were busy trying to right the ship. There was no time to notice the armored giant slapping the grenades onto the transparent surface in front of them.

The frags were bundled together, and he pulled the pins, allowing them to slide down the glass. The blast created a beautiful, spider web effect, and set more sirens off. The crew panicked, and began shouting orders.

John swung his legs over the side, and used his momentum to smash the barrier inwards. The immense weight of the Spartan could not be denied, and the glass gave way in a section big enough for him to fit through. He hit the floor of the cock pit with a loud 'thud'.

The crew gaped, lost for words. John brough his rifle up, and one of the officers finally regained his wits. The orders came to late however, and the Spartan sprayed the room with bullets and deadly accuracy. A few had been close to pulling their weapons, but never got a chance.

"Nice." Cortana commented.

His trained eye's scanned the room, and found what he wanted. The hatch leading to outside was labeled in red warning messages in English and mandarin.

"Chief, go over to the controls. I need to see them to figure out how it works."

"I want this thing out of commission."

"I can tell you how to set the auto pilot so it crashes after we've jumped."

"Do it"

He moved over to the main pilots controls, and waited for the AI to instruct him. She chirped directions in his ears, along with comments about the archaic nature of the ships for having basic controls and no AI compatibility.

After a few moments of clumsy instruction, the Chief finally had the auto pilot going, aiming for the sand right next to the other wreck.

As long as no more ships showed up, all they had to do was clear the remaining Alliance soldiers and leave the area as quickly as possible.

~88~

Ross was picking himself off the ground and reaching for his side arm when he heard the scraping of boots. Moving up next to Chief Thever was another sword wielding freak. This one was older looking with a darker complexion. He was wearing full body armor, just like the last one.

"Drop the over sized steak knife, now." The gun was leveled at the man.

His voice was even and smooth, and eerily calm." If you don't lower your firearm, this woman will die, and so will you."

Bassik tried to aim at the man, but only had his arm kicked viciously, forcing him to drop the gun.

Leth was near a fury. "Way to pick on the injured you fucking coward." The Irishman stood up, painfully so.

"I have neither the time nor inclination to argue valor with you. I will do what I must to complete my goal. All of you stand within my way of that." He sword twitched.

The was a scraping on the rocks above them. The man tried to move, but only got halfway clear before the heavily armored soldier barreled down on him, feet first.

Loud grunts and shuts ended in the two men wrestling for control. They broke apart, Raines immediately taking a defensive stand, poised and controlled like a professional.

The man visibly watched the trooper for a moment, studying this before swiping with the blade. Kevin lunged into the attack, blocking the blade with his fore arm plates, and getting inside the mans defenses with an elbow to the face, and a well placed kick to the kidneys.

~88~

Manning watched the weapon intently, waiting for the wielder to strike at him with it. The man attacked, and the Sergeant blocked it with his knife, and struck out with a vicious blow to the ribs, with his knees. He grabbed at the hilt of the blade and the attackers hands, trying to disable the weapon, while stabbing with the knife wielding arm.

The knife was block though. The Alliance man brought his hand down onto of Manning's, and twisted the limb back. He kicked the ODST away from him, slashing with the blade again. The Sergeant blocked with the knife for a second time, and forced his head forward as hard as he could. The blow connected with the enemies nose, and the Manning lashed out with the combat knife again, gauging a large bloody mark in the man's upper arm.

He cried out in pain, nose gushing blood, and hurled a retaliating blow. The blade slashed open an area om Manning's side that wasn't covered by armor.

"Son of a bitch!"

The Hell Jumper shoved his way inside the mans defenses, and embedded the blade of the knife as far into the guy's upper thigh as he could force it. Reverberations from striking the bone moved up through the blade to hilt. He yanked the weapon out as quickly and roughly as he could, leaving the man screaming and disabled.

Movement to his side caught his attention, and in that split second, the fed struck out with his fist into Manning's throat.

The Sergeant saw red, and gasped for breath. The two separated, and Manning moved back towards his men.

~88~

He knocked the blade from the man's grip quickly. Disarming the guy as fast as possible was the first priority. Then the real combat started.

The man was fast, scary fast. He kept up with every jab, punch, and block Raines threw up.

In turn, frustration and concentration were plastered across the guys face in a plain-as-day expression. He blocked the round house kick the ODST threw at him, and the subsequent punch. With the both the troopers limbs caught, he kicked the black armored man in the chest and to the ground.

Raines however, was not so easy to defeat. As he felt the foot connect with his chest, he sent his free leg up, to wrap around the man knee's, and bring him down to the ground as well. He rolled out of the way of the falling body, and kicked at the mans face while still in a crouch.

The fed stood, and tried to return the favor, but Kevin rolled clear and stood. When the man attacked again, Raines used his opponents legs as steps, and propelled him self up and forward. When airborne, he hooked the feds neck with one leg, and brought the other up and under the man's arm. He then pushed his momentum forward and to the left, bringing both of them down in a tumble.

The ODST rolled out of it like a natural, standing into a defensive stance.

The fed jumped to his feet quickly, but hesitated to attack again.

Dawkins and Cooper started firing again, this time at more Alliance soldiers coming around the formation at them. They were moving over the rocks at the Hell Jumpers now. When the fed cleared the peak how ever, they were gunned down from behind.

~88~

Mal was rather proud of his good aim, especially while he was riding the four wheeler. Now that he had the fed's attention however, he had to duck as low to the machine as possible to avoid getting a bullet to the brain pan. Zoe and Jayne fired for cover.

Above him, the second ship was a crash course. He watched the green armored figure jump from the boat, and land with a slam on the ground. The Spartan didn't even seem fazed. Reynolds drifted to a stop right next to him.

"Nice work."

The Chief looked at him. Without saying a word, he climbed on the back of the mongoose.

"What in the hell?"

"Drive."

"Yes Ma'am!" Mal bit back snidely. He didn't like being ordered around by anyone.

The Chief several remaining stragglers of the Alliance attackers. Two that stood out in different armor, looked the commanders, and had possibly ordered some form of retreat. John reloaded his gun, and opened fire immediately. The feds ducked for cover, and became pinned down when the other troopers took over.

In the distance, Mal could hear familiar engines. It was the sound of home. He whipped the four wheeler towards the side of the ship wreckage that had proven safe for them so far. The balance was almost completely thrown off from the bulk of the Spartan.

The ODST's were pointing at the incoming ship.

"Tell them to hold their fire. It's _Serenity_!"

John nodded and passed the message onto Manning.

The mid bulk transport ship loomed into view, hovering for a landing and opening her hatch doors.

Mal brought the four wheeler to stop, but the Master Chief didn't even wait for that. He was off running as soon as they were in the vicinity.

The sounds of hydraulics and hover engines announced the arrival of Zoe, Jayne, Wash and Simon in the mule. Zoe pulled it directly into the bay.

Bassik trotted up the ramp as fast as he could, aided by Smith. Leth followed, leaning on Dawkins. Cooper kept at a crouch, scanning the area for anymore Alliance attacks. The sniper was waiting on the ramp, keeping watch. The sword wielding weirdo's had gotten away, with a quarter dozen of their men still alive.

The Chief went over to the wounded, prepared to carry Chief Thever onto the ship.

Manning and Ross were crouched next to her. The sergeants visor was depolarized, and his expression grim.

Fresh blood poured from her chest, the result of a stray bullet.

Her face was strained. "Just give me a grenade. When they come over here expecting to find something, I'll blow as many of them to hell as I can."

Ross looked at the Spartan; John nodded to him. Two frags were placed in her hands, and Ross squeezed her should before getting up to and moving.

Sgt. Manning took the tag and data chip from around her neck, and placed it in the same pocket he held Bastognes. "It was an honor ma'am."

"Same here Sergeant. You see Eddy Buck after this, tell him he still owes me for getting him off that shit detail."

"Will do."

"Now get out of here. Make sure you get the Chief back to Earth, or I'll haunt you dammit."

Manning nodded, and moved for the waiting ship, not looking back.

Master Chief, did how ever, turn once. Thever gave him a thumbs up. Ever so briefly and slightly, he returned it.

The rest of the men trotted up the ramp, a girl in grease smeared coveralls controlling the hatch, a confused look in her eyes.

She could be heard trying to ask the Captain who all these men were.

"Kaylee, close'r up! Quick like."

She followed her orders, _Serenity_ already lifting into the air.

~88~

Ok, so hopefully my writers block is gone as well. I do hope you guys enjoyed the story so far. I value my readers a lot, and LOVE reviews. Hope to hear from you! Esp my loyal ones. You know who you are.

The songs for this chapter are: "When Worlds Collide" By Powerman 5000 and "Toxicity" By System of a Down


	11. And Then?

She lives! OH GOD DONT KILL ME. Take this chapter as a peace offering.

* * *

Mal didn't really know what to make of the mess sitting in _Serenity'_s hold. Nine black armored soldiers and one jolly green giant occupied any empty space there might have been. Half of them were injured in some way.

His crew exited the seats of the mule. Jayne's grip instinctively went to Vera, and he held the gun close like it was a sort of anchor against the strangeness of recent events. It sure wasn't the fighting that was the odd part. The big man didn't trust or like anyone of the men they'd picked up, but he really didn't like anyone.

"Wash, get up there and do your job." Mal pointed to catwalks that lead to the cockpit.

"Aye aye, Captain my Captain."

He offered a mock salute to Mal and took off up the catwalk stairs. Zoe and Jayne stood there, along with Simon, unsure of how to proceed. The vibe of the room was uncomfortable, at least for the crew. How would you even begin to address something like this?

Kaylee remained at the hatch controls, looking at the room, confused look still plastered on her face. "Captain, whats going on?" Her voice wavered slightly, an effect created by the odd situation they were in.

"I need _Serenity_'s mechanic in the engine room Kaylee. We need a hard burn away from this place." .

She didn't say anything, but nodded. The confused look stuck. She offered a half smile at the Master Chief when she passed him.

Mal planted his hands on his hips. The was a migraine headed his way.

"Alright, now what are we supposed to do?"

Cortana spoke. " Tatsuo took the liberty of enacting his information control protocols and setting the _Tam_ to blow after a thirty minute delay. After what I've seen of their tech capabilities, they won't break the firewalls before it blows. We won't have to worry about the Alliance getting their hands on any sensitive information."

Mal's eyes darkened. "Information is the last thing you want those people to have. And who's this 'Tatsuo?"

"Another AI, like me."

"Oh I'm sure he doesn't have your charms."

"You never know, and I do love a challenge." The smirk in her voice was almost visible.

John looked at the captain, and then back to the troopers. The ODST's were between laying on the floor, standing, or leaning on the cargo crates. A couple of them stood up straight when looked at. Manning pulled his helmet off and shot the captain a look.

The Spartan turned back towards Reynolds.

Sarcastically the captain said, "Well you wanted to talk to your people. I got ya a hold full'vum."

Stoically he said, "We still need to make contact with the UNSC command. This situation just got a lot more complicated."

"You're like a bad date that can't be pleased."

The Spartan wasn't amused.

There wasn't much room to answer, as Wash interrupted them over the PA system.

"Mal, we're getting waved by Karyn _and_ Inara."

"_Lao Tien Fu,_ just what I need right now. " His tone was casual and calm as he spun on his heel and started up the metal stairs. Jayne let out a less than polite grunt and disappeared through one of the doors, but not before tossing a dirty look over his shoulder.

John suppressed any urge to assert authority. There were still too many variables in their situation. Cortana whispered in his ear, almost as if she had sensed his thoughts. "He is going to be problematic in the future."

"It doesn't matter," John answered, " We don't have enough information yet."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it. You need to get me back into their system. If I can connect to the cortex again, I may be able to find our next lead."

* * *

Simon cleared his throat, tightening the grip on the black medical bag and moving towards Doc Leth, who was already stripping off his armor and outer layer of clothing.

The Irishman practically threw the head cover off; it was making him feel claustrophobic. Now that they were out of a combat zone he could try to get a real idea about how bad his injuries were. He tasted blood in his mouth, from where he had chomped the inside of his cheek pretty bad. Ross knelt next to him and helped him undo the clasped for the armor plates, and pulled them off slowly. It was instant relief from the constricted feeling that had been plaguing him. The stun rounds were effective. When he unzipped the front of the uniform top, blue and black bruises were already forming and blossoming up his chest to the collar bone and above. The doc didn't even want to peak inside the muscle shirt underneath. He already had an idea what it looked like. Ross informed him several optical blood vessels were broken and dark bruises were creeping below his eyes. The pain was going to be bad once the adrenaline and pain killer wore off. A nearby crate made a fine seat and he waved off Simon when the doctor approached him.

"Go look at Bassik, Dupre or Raines. I'll be fine."

"Im good." The sniper muttered. His statement was contradicted when he pulled his helmet off and leaned against the bulkhead. It was clear blood had been free flowing from his nose. It was at the sticky-drying stage and stained all the way down his chin, disappearing into the collar of the uniform top. The man's eyes were dilated and slightly unfocused. He kept his composure trying not to show outward signs of injury. He knew if he tried to move he'd probably fall over. Concussion probably.

Cooper looked his squad mate up and down before remarking "Yeah, and I'll be white when my sunburn peels."

When Simon took another step, Raines rolled his eyes and mumbled something about Bassik's broken bones. He was reminded of someone repeating instructions to a disobedient child.

Leth dug an alcohol wipe out of his pockets, and whizzed it towards the sniper, who caught it, but with a dizzy clumsiness. It did not go unnoticed by his squad mates. "You're an arsehole Kev."

The other declined a response, but ripped the foil packaging, promptly scrubbing the coagulated mess on his face away.

"Leth, look at him when you feel up to it. " Manning ordered. When Raines flicked a look back, he said," And you'll shut your mouth and like it."

Simon felt very much like an intruder amidst the gaggle of soldiers. The uninjured ones casually checked their weapons or curiously examined their surroundings. He had to put himself into hospital mode. It was a comforting mental shift when ever he was in high stress situations. The sergeant rubbed his face with a gloved hand and said " If they give you any shit I'll take care of it."

* * *

Manning tapped the top of his helmet with one finger, chewing on the inside of his lip and thinking of what to do next. The Sergeant was going over everything that had just happened, trying to understand why men from one of the greatest fighting forces humanity had to offer had been smacked around so badly. They'd been caught off guard, unprepared and kicked while they were down. It was unacceptable and one of the worst moments in his career.

Master Chief stood not far from him, but was silent. Manning suspected he was having a conversation with Cortana internally. It made Tatsuo float to the top of his mind. Cooper was still holding the AI's crystal data chip, along with the drives from the Alliance ship. The information would have to be analyzed.

Movement stole his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Manning watched the Spartan turn towards an open door way across the bay. He inclined his head slightly at the NCO and said, "Stay in this area, I'll be back. Keep confrontations from arising with the crew."

Manning bit back the urge to buck at the Chief's order. The Spartan had rank, but these weren't his men. He hadn't fought with them, coming close to death numerous times, picked them back up while each was at a low point and pushed them ever forward. It was not anything that any other survivors of wartime didn't have, but it their's personally and the Spartan was the outsider here. A higher ranking outsider.

* * *

Mal expected heavy foot steps to follow him. He didn't hear or feel them. The entire situation was bust. By all accounts he should have just left them on that planet. But would his get away have been so clean? Now that he'd seen the Master Chief in action, with back up, he had a feeling there were still more surprises. If this squad could take down two armored skiffs full of Alliance feds like it was an everyday occurrence, what else were they capable of? And why had it felt like there was another voice in his head, advising him against abandoning the soldiers?

The whole thing stunk. Wash was at the controls and waiting for him, and having small talk with Inara. He whirled out of the chair and started down the hall way, giving Mal some privacy.

"Did you think we'd forget you?"

"I could only hope sometimes."

"Cute. We'll be back to grab you soon. Ran into a little hiccup here."

A perfectly shaped eyebrow rose. "Hiccup?"

"Yeah, ya know, something small. Not a big deal."

"You wouldn't have happened to be in the Lilac system Mal?"

"No?" He tried his best innocent face.

"Then you've been on the cortex recently."

"Not really. Mind enlightening me?"

"It might be a little much for me, but the Alliance has an all bulletin alert for a list of ships, including a Firefly class transport, for terrorist attacks on Lilac. They've got photos all over the Cortex, and your big green friend is in several of them. What the hell did you do?" Her voice was strained, like she was holding back.

He frowned, deeply. "Not any gorram 'terrorist' attacks!" Gorram Alliance. Mal could feel his heart start to pound and the frustration threatening to overflow. It was just one thing after another today.

"It doesn't matter. Don't land Serenity anywhere near the Eaves Down docks."

"Then what do you suggest we do? You want us to leave you? Never made this out to be the spot you'd want to call your home." His tone had a clipped end. He still had a massive cargo of pilfered Alliance goods in his hold that Karyn had never claimed.

"I might be able to pull some strings. Don't do anything stupid, again."

"You don't need to get wrapped up in any of this…"

"I didn't necessarily look innocent after being on Miranda with you and the crew. Someone's got to clean up after you once in a while."

She cut the transmission after that, before he could tell her that he never asked her to get involved. It made Mal want to rub his eyes out. That is how it had been between them. He never asked her to help him, yet there she was doing it and being flippant at him simultaneously. The level of stress in her voice was not easily covered up either. A light was blinking, and he remembered Karyn. He slammed the receive button out of frustration.

"You just look like one big ball of sunshine."

"Must be all the peace and quiet I've been getting." He remarked sarcastically. "What are we gonna do about your cargo? You still owe me half, and I want it off my ship. If I go through a check point I'm humped." _Cause they'll ignore the alien squad of soldiers sittin in my hold. _

"What crawled up your ass?"

"What hasn't?"

"I'll rent a dump warehouse on planet for you to drop it in. Work for you?"

"Fine. This has taken more effort than it should have already. Check the cortex too."

"Why?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Got told we made the news back on that planet. Something about terrorist attacks on that town. There something you're not telling me?" His tone was edged.

"_Mei Yong Ma Duh Tse Gu Yong. _That's horse shit."

"Course it is. Alliance propaganda. Problem is now my ships back on their radar. I avoided 'intresting' after Miranda for a reason."

"Like those tag alongs you picked up?"

"Everybody's a critic."

"Keep your head low. Wave you when I have a spot."

The screen blinked off and the bridge was illuminated from the control panels. Things just never seemed to go right. He fell back into the chair with a huff. Stuck in the middle of someone else's problem, _again_. The silence of the cockpit and view of the black was soothing. Mal was tempted to get lost in thought, but a small movement of shadow slid across the panels. He spun the chair and watched the Chief walk into the area. Silently. In all that armor.

"Well I'm not gonna say that isn't slightly disturbing. What do you want?"

"I want to know if you're going to open the airlock on those men in the hold at any point and time."

"Why would I pull something like that?"

Cortana's words were frank. "You have a cargo of stolen goods, and you were just involved in a confrontation with authority that you don't agree with and have openly rebelled against, making you a target for law enforcement. You have a cargo hold full of soldiers from an enemy of the established government that also represent the kind of authority you despise. The crew and your lively hood are in a red zone as of right now"

Mal's arms were crossed and he looked up at the giant. "You got a point. However , you're missin several things."

"Enlighten us." She said.

"I'm no fan of the Alliance, and you and your little pep squad just put a serious hurting on them without a second thought. It counts for something. There'll be no airlock issues because I _don't _leave soldiers behind. Ever. _Next_, you must be in some kind of similar disposition 'gainst them because they sure as hell knew something about you. What ever it was put you in the same boat as me, figuratively, and literally. Rival nations? There's a connection here and you better believe I'm starting to see it. So I think it's time someone connected the rest of the dots for me, see'in as I'm harboring state fugitives on my ship."

"Chief?"

"Do it"

The Spartan crossed his arms while Cortana gave the brief history lesson. The Alliance was nothing more than the descendants of the first great rebellion on Earth, before faster than light technology was even possible. The fighting only ended when they left, millions of them on great ships. Somehow, their colonization of the current system of planets had gone undetected because of scientific phenomenon. There was a wall of nebula that kept the planets hidden. Cortana had discovered the data on it through her trip into the cortex.

Mal's thoughts through the little lecture only went faster and faster. The entire thing was a giant lie. The Alliance had lied to them all. About earth, about what happened. It was surreal. Generations of men and women had grown up on a massive conspiracy. His blood ran cold. He couldn't take some computer programs word for it, and wouldn't. There was no denying however that things seemed to fit just a little too perfectly. How else would the Alliance know who these men were? How would they know enough to call them a 'rival nation'?

"This is one of the tallest tales I think I've ever heard, and believe me, I've been around this piece of the verse one or twice."

"You don't believe us?"

"I didn't say that, but you have a LOT that you need to back up before I can just accept this. Some of it fits, but some of it is pretty gorram out there."

"You want facts first?"

"You better believe it. Not that I wouldn't put something like this past the Alliance. I've had more than enough of an education of what those people are capable of. This, this is just beyond life changing. You've got billions and billions of people out there that know a different truth."

"What if we can get you that proof?"

"Really now?"

"As of that encounter the Chief and myself are bound to enact Protocol 46738-00072KA."

"Which is?"

"Until our departure or retrieval, gather intelligence. That's the gist of it."

"That's what you're allowed to tell others."

"A girl can't give away all her secrets."

"Some things are best left unsaid. We're heading back to Persephone."

"I need to jack into the cortex again."

"That's fine, but keep you're digital fingers away from anything on this ship."

"Care to clarify that captain?"

Mal stood up. The effect was lost because the Spartan was so damn big, and Cortana was nothing more than a computer program, but he was still going to get his point across.

"I know you were all over this ship that last time you jacked in. If you can hack Alliance programs, you can hack this ship. Don't do it again."

"And were did you learn this information Captain?"

"A lil albatross told me. If I'm going to be takin you lot into my home, and this ship _is _my home, then I expect there to be some respect. You can put a hurting on the Alliance. That tickles my fancy. That feeling goes away, then we _will_ have problems. Think we can make this work?"

There was no malice or attitude detectable in his voice. The man was being plain and truthful. Jon, Master Chief held out his hand. "We have some middle ground."

Mal took it. Couldn't ignore that it felt like a kid shaking hands with an adult.

"Now'a question that's boggin down everyone's mind, artificial and scientifically suped up alike."

Cortana raised an eyebrow. "What next?"

* * *

I am in full riot gear to protect my self from all of you. Here is my list of explanations, please read them slowly so that I may have time to properly hide.

1. Lost ALL my files when my laptop crashed. A family member decided to visit a less than savory site using my toshiba, and.. well... it died on me.

2. Work. Bartending sucks the life and energy out of you. I worked all night and slept all day.

3. School. I needs my ed-Umacation.

4. Time with the husband. He's deploying soon, and cuddle time is of the utmost importance.

5. Writers block snuck up like a ninja in the night and debo'd my brain before beating the living crap out of my imagination.

Please forgive me, this story is NOT dead. I intend to finish it up before Halo 4 is released and totally blows my plot line out of the water. This chapter is bland, but it was the hump that was haunting me. Starting on a fresh chapter has reawakened the electrons in my cranium and I've been cranking out a few paragraphs a day for the last week. I want the next one to be longer and have some action and character development in it. I'm not sure what else to write, but I hope this will salve some worries that I had died... or somehting. Ciao!


End file.
